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Security report for ard.de

ARD · Media · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

ARD is a major German public broadcasting organization providing a wide range of media services including news, sports, podcasts, and children's programming. The website serves as a portal linking to various ARD brands and partner broadcasters, reflecting a strong market position in the German media landscape. The business model is publicly funded broadcasting, targeting a general audience with diverse content offerings. Technically, the website uses modern web technologies such as React and is optimized for mobile devices, though some accessibility features could be improved. Security posture is moderate with no visible security headers or explicit policies, and privacy compliance is good with a comprehensive privacy policy but lacking a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy, with strong business credibility but room for technical and security enhancements.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  2. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
72
Security headers
70
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
68

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention ard.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
7,730
Employees
0
Customers
7,690
Third parties
40
Weak passwords
7%

37 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

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Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

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Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

ARD operates as a public media consortium with multiple regional partners and subsidiaries, offering a broad spectrum of content across video, audio, and live streaming platforms. Its competitive advantage lies in its public funding and extensive network of regional broadcasters, enabling comprehensive coverage and diverse programming. Revenue streams are primarily from broadcasting fees. The target audience is broad, including general viewers, news consumers, sports fans, podcast listeners, and children. The partnership ecosystem includes numerous regional broadcasters and related media entities. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining digital modernization and enhancing security and privacy compliance to sustain trust and regulatory adherence.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is moderate. The website uses HTTPS but lacks visible security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, or X-Frame-Options in the provided HTML content. No incident response or security policy pages were found, indicating potential gaps in transparency and readiness. There is no evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries in the analyzed content. GDPR compliance is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy, but the absence of a cookie consent mechanism may be a compliance risk. The security culture appears implicit but could benefit from explicit policies and incident response information. Overall, the security posture is adequate but requires improvements to meet best practices and regulatory standards.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to ensure full GDPR compliance and user transparency regarding tracking.
  3. Publish explicit security and incident response policies to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to improve usability for all users, including those with disabilities.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities and maintain security hygiene.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ARD
Description
ARD is a German public broadcasting organization offering news, sports, podcasts, and children's programming through various brands and platforms.
Key services
ARD Mediathek (video and livestreams), Tagesschau (news), Sportschau (sports), ARD Audiothek (podcasts and radio), KiKA (children's programming)
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Frameworks
React
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
50/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professionally presented and consistent with a major public broadcaster.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banners detected, which may be a compliance gap.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content; contact is via a contact page.
  5. No visible security headers or explicit security policies found in the HTML content.
  6. Multiple external links to official ARD-related domains and partner broadcasters.
  7. No advertising or tracking scripts detected in the provided HTML content.
  8. Structured data (JSON-LD) is used to define organization and brand information.
  9. No forms detected in the provided HTML content; contact likely handled on separate pages.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies, notably React, with a modular JavaScript and CSS structure. Performance is moderate, with deferred script loading and responsive design elements supporting mobile optimization. SEO is supported by proper meta tags, Open Graph data, and structured JSON-LD data describing the organization and its brands. However, there is no detected CMS or hosting provider information in the HTML content. Accessibility is basic and could be improved with ARIA roles and better keyboard navigation support. Technical risks include lack of visible security headers and missing cookie consent mechanisms, which could impact compliance and security posture. Overall, the infrastructure is modern but requires enhancements in security and privacy implementation.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 68/100 −5Medium33 findingsView report
  2. 73/100Medium26 findingsView report
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