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Security report for dpa.de

dpa GmbH · Media · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

dpa GmbH is Germany's leading press agency providing trusted, accurate, and independent news content to media outlets domestically and internationally. The company offers a broad range of services including news provision, editorial solutions, and a media content marketplace, supported by subsidiaries such as news aktuell, picture alliance, and dpa-infocom. The website reflects a strong market position with professional branding and comprehensive service offerings targeted at media companies and corporate communication clients. Technically, the site is built on modern frameworks like React and Next.js, leveraging Storyblok CMS and AWS Cloudfront for hosting and content delivery, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. Security posture is robust with HTTPS enforcement and multiple security headers, although the absence of a cookie consent mechanism and explicit terms of service page are areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is missing, which raises some concerns about domain registration transparency, but the overall digital presence and external references support the legitimacy of the business. Strategic recommendations include enhancing privacy compliance with visible cookie consent, publishing terms of service and security incident response information, and maintaining vigilance on third-party scripts to uphold security standards.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of dpa.de. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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"

  2. 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

  3. 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

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

Keep watching dpa.de

This scan found 22 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
72
Security headers
65
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
73

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 dpa.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
2
Employees
0
Customers
0
Third parties
2
Weak passwords
100%

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

dpa GmbH operates as a major player in the media sector, serving as a critical news source for German and international media. Its business model revolves around providing journalistic content and editorial services, with revenue streams likely derived from subscriptions, custom content projects, and media partnerships. The company targets media organizations, journalists, and corporate clients seeking professional communication solutions. Growth indicators include investments in AI expertise and expansion into new editorial hubs such as Qatar. The partnership ecosystem includes press portals, European newsrooms, and media research projects focused on younger demographics. dpa's strategic focus on innovation and customer dialogue positions it well for sustained market relevance.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and a comprehensive set of security headers including HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options. Use of Matomo analytics indicates a privacy-conscious approach to user tracking. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of a cookie consent mechanism and lack of published security policies or incident response contacts represent compliance gaps, especially under GDPR and NIS2 frameworks. The missing WHOIS data is a notable anomaly that could impact trust but does not directly affect site security. Overall, the security culture appears strong but could benefit from enhanced transparency and user privacy controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  2. Publish a clear and accessible terms of service page to define user and business obligations.
  3. Add security incident response contact information and consider a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance domain registration transparency by ensuring WHOIS data is publicly available or justified if privacy protected.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
dpa GmbH
Description
The dpa is a trusted, accurate and independent provider of news with the digital and multimedia content to power the media at home and abroad.
Key services
News provision, Editorial solutions, Media content marketplace, Custom content services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Storyblok CMS, Matomo Analytics
Frameworks
React, Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Matomo for privacy-respecting analytics

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich multimedia content
  2. Strong branding and professional presentation
  3. Comprehensive contact and support information available
  4. No visible cookie consent mechanism despite GDPR relevance
  5. No explicit terms of service page found
  6. Use of modern web technologies and CMS
  7. Good SEO and accessibility practices
  8. No security incident or vulnerability disclosure information found
  9. WHOIS data missing, which is unusual and warrants caution
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including React and Next.js frameworks, supported by Storyblok CMS for content management. Hosting is via AWS Cloudfront CDN, contributing to fast load times and excellent mobile responsiveness. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags, Open Graph, and Twitter card integration. Accessibility features are present but could be further enhanced. The site uses Matomo for analytics, favoring privacy over more invasive tracking solutions. No technical debt or legacy technology indicators were found. Opportunities exist to improve privacy compliance and security transparency to align with best practices.
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. 61/100Medium22 findings · partial scanView report
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