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Security report for dresden.de

Landeshauptstadt Dresden · Government · Germany

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

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website www.dresden.de serves as the official digital portal for the Landeshauptstadt Dresden, providing comprehensive information and services related to city administration, culture, tourism, economy, and public welfare. It targets residents, visitors, and businesses, positioning itself as the authoritative source for municipal information. The site features a well-structured navigation system and extensive content covering various aspects of city life. Technically, the website employs a range of JavaScript libraries including jQuery, Perfect Scrollbar, Swiper.js, and Highcharts, indicating a mature but somewhat legacy technology stack. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices and performance rated as moderate. Hosting and CMS details are not explicitly identified, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and includes cookie consent mechanisms compliant with GDPR. However, it lacks explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure information. The use of an older jQuery version may present minor risks. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be enhanced with additional transparency and modern security headers. The overall risk assessment is low, with the site demonstrating high professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations. Strategic recommendations include updating legacy libraries, publishing security and incident response policies, and implementing security.txt for vulnerability reporting to further strengthen trust and security culture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 100 · Low
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. 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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';…
  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
  3. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Weak SPF Policy

      SPF record has permissive policy allowing any server to send email

      What to do: Use -all or ~all qualifier for better email security

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

Keep watching dresden.de

This scan found 27 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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
45
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
63

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 dresden.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
634
Employees
0
Customers
618
Third parties
16
Weak passwords
6%

19 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for dresden.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

The Landeshauptstadt Dresden operates as a government entity providing essential public services and information through its website. Its market position is that of the primary municipal information hub, serving a broad audience including citizens, tourists, and businesses. The business model is non-commercial, focusing on public administration and community engagement. Key services include administrative procedures, cultural event information, economic development support, and tourism facilitation. The website reflects a large organizational scale consistent with a major city government. The partnership ecosystem is not explicitly detailed but likely includes local institutions and service providers. Growth indicators are not applicable in a commercial sense but the site shows ongoing content updates and digital maturity.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, cookie consent with opt-in, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. The absence of explicit security policies and incident response contacts is a gap in transparency and readiness. The legacy jQuery version used may harbor known vulnerabilities, suggesting a need for modernization. No security headers were detected in the provided data, indicating room for improvement in defense-in-depth. The minimal user tracking via Matomo is privacy-conscious. Overall, the site is secure for its purpose but would benefit from enhanced security governance documentation and technical hardening.

Recommendations

  1. Update jQuery and other legacy JavaScript libraries to current secure versions.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and compliance.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information, including abuse and security email addresses.
  4. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Enhance HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, and X-Frame-Options.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Landeshauptstadt Dresden
Description
Dienstleistungen und Ansprechpartner der Landeshauptstadt Dresden sowie aktuelle Meldungen und Informationen zu Leben, Kultur, Stadtentwicklung, Wirtschaft und Tourismus
Key services
Stadtverwaltung Dienstleistungen, Politische Informationen, Kultur- und Freizeitangebote, Wirtschaftsförderung, Tourismusinformationen
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.12.4, Perfect Scrollbar, Swiper.js, Highcharts, jQuery UI, ARIA Tabs, SumoSelect, Responsive Tables, Modernizr, HTML5shiv
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with opt-in mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of integrity attribute on some scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is official city government portal for Dresden
  2. Content is comprehensive and well-structured
  3. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliant
  4. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in provided HTML snippet
  5. No terms of service page detected
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published
  7. Use of legacy jQuery version may pose minor security risk
  8. No visible advertising or affiliate programs
  9. Minimal user tracking with Matomo analytics
  10. Mobile and accessibility features are implemented
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a combination of legacy and modern JavaScript libraries to deliver interactive features such as sliders, accessible tabs, and responsive tables. The presence of Modernizr and HTML5shiv indicates support for older browsers. The site is mobile-optimized with off-canvas navigation and accessible ARIA roles. Performance is moderate, likely due to multiple script dependencies and large navigation structures. No commercial CMS is detected, suggesting a custom-built platform. The hosting provider is not identified from the data. Technical debt is indicated by the use of jQuery 1.12.4, which is outdated and may pose security risks. Opportunities exist to modernize the tech stack, improve performance, and enhance security headers to reduce technical risks impacting business operations.
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. 65/100Medium35 findingsView report
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