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Security report for bgbern.ch

Burgergemeinde Bern · Government · Switzerland

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

50/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Burgergemeinde Bern is a municipal government entity serving the city and canton of Bern, Switzerland. It provides a broad range of community services including social welfare, environmental stewardship, cultural activities, urban development, sports, education, and scientific engagement. The website reflects its role as a public sector organization with clear communication and community outreach. Technically, the site is built on the Plone CMS platform, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries and frameworks to deliver a responsive and user-friendly experience. The presence of Matomo analytics indicates a privacy-conscious approach to user data collection. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and CSRF protections in place, though there is room for improvement in implementing security headers and explicit cookie consent mechanisms. WHOIS data confirms the legitimacy and consistency of the domain registration with the organization's identity. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-aligned with its governmental mission.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 100 · Medium
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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  3. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching bgbern.ch

This scan found 18 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • 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
0
Security headers
30
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
58
Average
50

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The Burgergemeinde Bern operates as a key local government institution with a strong community focus. Its market position is stable within the public sector, serving residents and stakeholders in Bern. The business model centers on governance and public service delivery rather than commercial revenue generation. The website supports transparency and engagement through detailed information, news, events, and contact channels. Partnerships with local organizations such as www.begh.ch and www.sora-bern.ch enhance its service ecosystem. The digital presence is mature, with consistent branding and active social media channels. Growth indicators include ongoing news updates and event listings, reflecting active community involvement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with HTTPS enabled and use of CSRF tokens in forms. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options suggests potential areas for hardening against common web attacks. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The lack of a public security policy or incident response contact limits transparency in security governance. GDPR compliance is partially addressed through a comprehensive privacy policy, but the missing cookie consent mechanism is a compliance gap. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government website but could be improved with additional controls and disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against web attacks.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve trust and preparedness.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet higher standards and improve user experience for all visitors.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Burgergemeinde Bern
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Burgergemeinde Bern
Description
Die Burgergemeinde Bern ist eine Gemeinde gemäss der bernischen Kantonsverfassung. Sie wirkt zum Wohl aller Menschen in Stadt und Kanton Bern in den Bereichen Soziales, Umwelt und Natur, Kultur, Lebensraum Stadt Bern, Sport, Bildung und Wissenschaft.
Key services
Social services, Environmental and nature conservation, Cultural activities, Urban living space management, Sports, Education and science
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, jQuery, Handlebars.js, Slick Slider
Frameworks
Plone CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of CSRF token in forms (_authenticator hidden field)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

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 relevant to the municipal government of Bern.
  3. Use of Plone CMS indicates a mature and secure content management platform.
  4. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected, which may be a GDPR compliance gap.
  5. Contact information is clearly provided with multiple channels including phone, email, and physical address.
  6. Social media presence is active on major platforms enhancing trust and engagement.
  7. Security headers are not explicitly detected; opportunity for improvement.
  8. Matomo analytics used, indicating privacy-conscious tracking compared to Google Analytics.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Plone CMS platform, a robust and secure content management system favored by government and institutional websites. It uses modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, Handlebars.js for templating, and Slick Slider for interactive content. The site loads external fonts from fast.fonts.net and uses Matomo for analytics, reflecting a privacy-aware approach. Performance is moderate with asynchronous loading of scripts and responsive design for mobile devices. The HTML structure is valid and SEO-friendly with appropriate meta tags and Open Graph data. Some technical debt is noted in the lack of security headers and cookie consent implementation, which are recommended for modernization and compliance.
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

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