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Security report for expats.cz

Howlings s.r.o. · Media · Czech Republic

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

62/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Expats.cz is a leading English-language media platform based in the Czech Republic, operated by Howlings s.r.o. The website provides comprehensive news, job listings, real estate information, directories, and newsletters targeted primarily at expatriates and English speakers living in or interested in the Czech Republic. It holds a strong market position as a trusted resource for the expat community, with a professional and consistent brand presence. The company has been operating since 2001, offering a mature and well-maintained digital platform. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including jQuery, Bootstrap, and integrates multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel. The site is mobile-optimized and demonstrates good SEO and accessibility practices, although some accessibility features could be enhanced. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and includes standard security headers, but lacks a publicly available security policy or incident response information. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. The absence of WHOIS data for the domain is a notable gap, slightly impacting trustworthiness, but the visible company registration details and professional content mitigate this concern. Overall, Expats.cz presents a reliable and professional online presence with moderate risk and room for improvement in transparency and security documentation.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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. 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. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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 expats.cz

This scan found 21 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
77
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
68
Average
62

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 expats.cz, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
662
Employees
0
Customers
662
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
13%

2 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 expats.cz.

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

Expats.cz operates in the media sector with additional services in real estate and education, targeting English-speaking expatriates in the Czech Republic. Its business model revolves around content publishing, advertising, job and real estate listings, and newsletter distribution. The company leverages partnerships with local service providers and advertisers to generate revenue. The platform's competitive advantage lies in its niche focus on the expat community and its comprehensive service offerings. The website's content is regularly updated, indicating active engagement and growth potential. The presence of multiple social media channels enhances its outreach and community building. The company is registered as Howlings s.r.o., a medium-sized entity based in Prague. Strategic observations suggest that Expats.cz maintains a strong local presence with potential to expand digital services and improve security transparency to strengthen market trust.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, reducing common web vulnerabilities. The use of reputable third-party libraries and frameworks is noted, though continuous monitoring for vulnerabilities is recommended. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, with active consent mechanisms in place. However, the absence of a published security policy and incident response contact information represents a compliance gap and potential risk in handling security incidents. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The integration of tracking and advertising scripts is transparent and consent-based, aligning with privacy best practices. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by publishing formal security governance documents and establishing clear incident response channels.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security governance and controls.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information, including security or abuse email addresses.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance website accessibility features to meet higher compliance standards.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Howlings s.r.o.
VAT number
CZ27572102
Registration number
27572102
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Howlings s.r.o.
Description
Prague and the Czech Republic's leading English-language resource for the latest news, jobs and real estate
Key services
News publishing, Job listings, Real estate listings, Directory services, Newsletters, Advertising
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Bootstrap, SweetAlert2, FancyApps UI, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Leady tracking
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure cookie consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Leady
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Leady, Facebook Pixel
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a mature, well-established English-language media platform for expatriates in Czech Republic
  2. Content is rich, professionally presented, and regularly updated
  3. Strong social media presence across multiple platforms
  4. Comprehensive privacy, cookie, and terms policies available
  5. No WHOIS data available, which is unusual but not necessarily suspicious
  6. No explicit security policy or incident response information published
  7. Uses multiple third-party tracking and advertising services with consent mechanisms
  8. No adult or questionable content detected
  9. Good technical implementation with modern libraries and frameworks
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a custom CMS platform utilizing jQuery and Bootstrap frameworks, ensuring responsive design and good user experience across devices. It integrates modern UI libraries such as FancyApps and SweetAlert2 for enhanced interactivity. Performance is moderate with room for optimization, particularly in image loading and script management. SEO is well addressed with appropriate meta tags and Open Graph data. The hosting provider is not explicitly identified from the HTML content. The site employs multiple analytics and marketing tools, including Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel, with proper consent mechanisms. Technical risks are minimal but include dependency on third-party scripts which require ongoing security monitoring. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and scalable online presence.
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. 62/100Medium29 findingsView report
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