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Security report for familiennamenbuch.ch

Stiftung Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) · Education · Switzerland

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The website familiennamenbuch.ch is an academic and historical resource operated by the Stiftung Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS). It provides a searchable online database of Swiss family names and citizenship data from 1962, serving genealogists, historians, and researchers interested in Swiss heritage. The site is positioned as a trusted, authoritative reference with a non-commercial, educational mission. Technically, the site uses standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with Matomo analytics for visitor tracking. The design is basic but functional, with multilingual support and clear navigation. Security posture is moderate with HTTPS usage but lacks visible security headers and formal privacy or cookie policies. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is published. Overall, the site is safe, trustworthy, and well-aligned with its academic purpose, though improvements in privacy compliance and security best practices are recommended.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 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

8 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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 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';…

  3. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

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

Keep watching familiennamenbuch.ch

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.

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
95
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
75
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
50
Average
53
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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 Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz is a niche academic service focused on genealogical data for Swiss families. Its market position is that of a specialized educational resource maintained by a Swiss historical foundation. The business model is non-commercial, providing free access to a valuable dataset derived from a printed handbook. The target audience includes genealogists, historians, and academic researchers. The site benefits from trust signals such as foundation backing and clear contact information but lacks broader marketing or commercial partnerships. Growth potential lies in expanding digital access and improving user experience. The partnership ecosystem appears limited to academic and historical institutions.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic security posture with HTTPS enabled and no visible sensitive data exposure. However, it lacks important security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options, which could improve protection against common web attacks. The absence of privacy and cookie policies and no published incident response or vulnerability disclosure processes indicate gaps in compliance and security maturity. Forms use POST methods but no advanced protections like CSRF tokens are evident. Overall, the site is low risk but would benefit from adopting modern security best practices and transparency measures to enhance trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Add security headers including Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to improve site security.
  3. Establish and disclose an incident response plan and vulnerability disclosure policy to build trust.
  4. Enhance mobile optimization and accessibility to improve user experience across devices.
  5. Consider modernizing the technology stack and adopting a CMS for easier content management and security updates.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stiftung Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS)
Description
The Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz is an essential handbook for genealogists and historians listing Swiss families with citizenship in 1962. It provides data on family names, citizenship locations and dates, and origins. The online database is based on the third edition published in 1989 and maintained by the HLS foundation.
Key services
Online searchable database of Swiss family names, Historical reference for citizenship and family origins, Academic resource linked with Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Matomo Analytics
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS assumed (URL is https)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Forms use POST method

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an academic genealogical resource for Swiss family names
  2. No privacy or cookie policies found
  3. Contact email is provided in footer
  4. No phone numbers or physical addresses found
  5. Uses Matomo analytics without visible cookie consent
  6. No security policy or incident response info published
  7. No visible security headers in HTML
  8. Forms use POST method but no CSRF tokens visible
  9. Content is in German with multilingual options
  10. No social media links detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, including Matomo analytics for tracking. It lacks a modern CMS or advanced frameworks, which limits scalability and ease of updates. Performance is moderate with no explicit optimization detected. Mobile and accessibility features are basic but functional. No advanced SEO or structured data (JSON-LD, Open Graph) is present beyond basic meta tags. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. The site would benefit from modernization to improve maintainability, security, and user experience.
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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