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Security report for focus.de

BurdaForward GmbH · Media · Germany

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

FOCUS online is a prominent German news portal operated by BurdaForward GmbH, a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media. The site delivers timely news and analyses across politics, economy, sports, and society, targeting a broad general audience. It offers both free content and subscription-based premium content under the FOCUS+ brand. The website is well-positioned in the German media market with a strong brand and extensive content offerings. Technically, the site employs a modern web stack including React-based SPA architecture, Auth0 for authentication, Sourcepoint for GDPR-compliant consent management, and Tealium for tag management and analytics. Hosting and CDN services are provided by Akamai, ensuring fast and reliable content delivery. The site is mobile-optimized and SEO-friendly, with structured data enhancing search engine visibility. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses modern authentication and consent frameworks. However, it lacks visible security headers and publicly available security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. Privacy compliance is supported by a consent management platform, though explicit privacy and cookie policy pages were not found in the analyzed content. Overall, FOCUS online demonstrates a mature digital presence with strong business credibility and technical implementation. Strategic improvements in security transparency and policy disclosures would further enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
45/ 100 · High
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

7 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

    • 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

  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';…

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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
80
Security headers
25
Email security
65
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
45
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 focus.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1,816
Employees
0
Customers
1,762
Third parties
54
Weak passwords
14%

18 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

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

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Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

FOCUS online operates as a leading digital news media outlet in Germany, leveraging a hybrid business model of advertising revenue and subscription services. Its competitive advantage lies in its brand recognition, comprehensive news coverage, and integration of multimedia content. The company targets a wide demographic interested in current affairs and lifestyle topics. Partnerships with financial services and price comparison platforms diversify revenue streams. The parent company, Hubert Burda Media, provides strong backing and resources, supporting growth and market presence. The site’s ecosystem includes multiple partner domains and a sophisticated advertising and tracking infrastructure, indicating a mature digital marketing strategy.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security posture with enforced HTTPS, modern authentication via Auth0, and GDPR-compliant consent management through Sourcepoint. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were identified. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of publicly disclosed security policies or incident response contacts represent areas for improvement. The site does not publish a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file, which could enhance transparency and trust. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced security communication and header implementation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Provide clear links to privacy policy and cookie policy pages within the website footer or header.
  3. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and user trust.
  4. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
BurdaForward GmbH
Description
FOCUS online is a German news portal providing up-to-date news and service information from Germany's modern news magazine, covering politics, economy, sports, society, and more.
Key services
News articles, Video content, Subscription-based premium content (FOCUS+), Advertising services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Auth0 (authentication), Sourcepoint CMP (consent management), Utag (Tealium tag management), Akamai (CDN and DNS), Adengine (advertising), HTML5, CSS3
Frameworks
React (implied by SPA and script structure), Auth0 SPA SDK
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of modern authentication (Auth0)
  • Consent management for GDPR compliance
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure token storage in localStorage with refresh tokens

Analytics and tracking

Services
Tealium
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
BurdaForward Adengine
Tracking pixels
Tealium Utag, Sourcepoint CMP
Marketing tools
Auth0, Tealium, Sourcepoint
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional German news portal with extensive content and multimedia.
  2. Strong use of modern web technologies and third-party services for authentication and consent management.
  3. No direct contact information or privacy policy URL found in the HTML content provided.
  4. Robust advertising and tracking ecosystem integrated with transparency.
  5. No security policy or incident response contact publicly visible.
  6. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  7. Content is safe for general audiences with no adult or explicit material.
  8. No WAF or blocking detected; content fully accessible.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack featuring React SPA architecture, Auth0 for user authentication, and Sourcepoint for consent management, indicating a high level of digital maturity. Hosting and CDN services are provided by Akamai, ensuring fast content delivery and scalability. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and uses structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO enhancement. Performance is fast with asynchronous loading of scripts and efficient resource management. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. The technical infrastructure supports a robust user experience but could improve by adding accessibility features and security headers.
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. 63/100Medium31 findingsView report
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