Skip to main content

Security report for finanzamt-geilenkirchen.de

Finanzamt Geilenkirchen · Government · Germany

High risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

48/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The website finanzamt-geilenkirchen.de serves as the official online presence of the Finanzamt Geilenkirchen, a regional tax office under the Oberfinanzdirektion Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany. It provides comprehensive tax-related information, contact details, online services such as appointment booking and electronic tax declaration (ELSTER), and current news updates. The site targets residents and businesses in the Nordrhein-Westfalen region, offering clear navigation and well-structured content tailored to public service needs. Technically, the website is built on the Drupal CMS platform, utilizing modern web technologies including Apache server, Matomo analytics for user tracking, and a robust Content Security Policy. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and accessibility features, ensuring usability across devices and for users with disabilities. However, the SSL/TLS configuration is critically flawed, with no valid certificate and no TLS protocols enabled, which undermines secure HTTPS access. From a security perspective, the site implements several best practices such as strict security headers (X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, CSP), HSTS with preload directive, and referrer policies. Despite these, the lack of a valid SSL certificate and HTTPS support is a major vulnerability that must be addressed urgently to protect user data and maintain trust. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with GDPR, featuring clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. The business credibility is high given its government affiliation, but the security posture is currently weak due to SSL issues. Strategic recommendations include immediate remediation of SSL/TLS configuration, enhancement of session security features, and continuous monitoring of security compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
0/ 100 · Critical
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. GDPR outside view

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

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

    • 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

  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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

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

Keep watching finanzamt-geilenkirchen.de

This scan found 13 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
85
Email security
50
DNS health
50
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
0
Average
48

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

Finanzamt Geilenkirchen operates as a government tax authority providing essential tax services to individuals and businesses in the Nordrhein-Westfalen region. Its market position is that of an official public institution with no direct commercial competition. The business model focuses on public service delivery, regulatory compliance, and citizen engagement through digital channels. Revenue streams are government-funded, with no commercial transactions on the site. The target customer segments include private taxpayers, companies, and non-profit organizations within the jurisdiction. The site supports growth in digital service adoption, evidenced by online appointment booking and ELSTER integration. Partnerships with other government entities and digital service providers are evident through linked domains and social media channels. Operationally, the site reflects a mature digital presence aligned with public sector standards.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with strong HTTP security headers and a comprehensive Content Security Policy that restricts resource loading to trusted domains. GDPR compliance is supported by clear privacy and cookie policies with user consent mechanisms. However, the absence of a valid SSL certificate and disabled TLS protocols represent critical vulnerabilities that expose users to potential data interception and undermine trust. No known vulnerabilities such as Heartbleed or POODLE are detected. The site lacks advanced features like OCSP stapling and session resumption, which could improve security and performance. Incident response and security policy disclosures are not found, indicating room for improvement in transparency and readiness. Overall, the security culture appears cautious but requires urgent SSL remediation to meet modern standards.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS with TLS 1.2 or higher.
  2. Enable strong cipher suites and configure TLS protocols properly to secure communications.
  3. Ensure HSTS header is correctly implemented and enforced across all subdomains.
  4. Implement OCSP stapling and session resumption to enhance security and performance.
  5. Publish explicit security policies and incident response contacts to improve transparency and trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Technical notes

Notes

The website is hosted on an Apache server and built using Drupal CMS, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries such as Modernizr and FontAwesome for enhanced UI/UX. It integrates Matomo analytics for privacy-conscious user tracking and uses a complex Content Security Policy to mitigate cross-site scripting and resource injection risks. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with ARIA roles and skip links for screen readers. Performance data is not available, but the site uses CDN resources and asynchronous script loading to optimize speed. Technical debt appears low, but the critical SSL/TLS misconfiguration poses a significant operational risk. Modernization efforts should focus on securing transport layer protocols and enhancing incident response capabilities.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with finanzamt-geilenkirchen.de. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review finanzamt-geilenkirchen.de.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.