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Security report for government.is

Government of Iceland · Government · Iceland

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Government of Iceland's official website serves as a comprehensive portal for information regarding the Icelandic government, its ministries, diplomatic missions, and public communications. It targets citizens, residents, foreign nationals, and international partners by providing news, publications, and contact resources. The site maintains a professional and consistent brand presence, reflecting its authoritative role as a government entity. Technically, the website employs a custom CMS with modern web technologies including jQuery, Bootstrap, and third-party services such as ReadSpeaker and CookieHub. It is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices and a moderate performance profile. The site integrates analytics and cookie consent mechanisms, demonstrating digital maturity. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and includes CAPTCHA protections on contact forms, but lacks visible advanced security headers and published security policies. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The absence of WHOIS data is typical for government domains in Iceland and does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Overall, the website presents a low-risk profile with strong business credibility and good privacy compliance. Strategic improvements in security header implementation and transparency around incident response would further enhance its security posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of government.is. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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 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 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

    • 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching government.is

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.

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Recommended

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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
57
Security headers
40
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
70

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

The Government of Iceland website occupies a critical position as the official digital presence of the Icelandic government. It provides authoritative information and services related to governance, legislation, and international diplomacy. The site supports multiple ministries and facilitates communication with the public through contact forms and published resources. Its business model is non-commercial, focused on public service and transparency. The website's partnership ecosystem includes related government domains and international diplomatic sites. Growth indicators include regular news updates and active content management. The site’s operations reflect a mature digital strategy aligned with government standards.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to strong security posture with mandatory HTTPS encryption and anti-spam CAPTCHA on forms. However, the lack of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents an area for improvement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could hinder rapid response to security events. Privacy compliance is well addressed with cookie consent and a comprehensive privacy policy. The site shows no signs of vulnerabilities or data exposure, indicating good operational security practices. Enhancing transparency and adopting security best practices would strengthen the overall security culture.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response plan accessible to users and stakeholders.
  3. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and user privacy to reinforce trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Government of Iceland
Description
Information from the Government Offices of Iceland. The ministers of the Icelandic Government and their ministries comprise Government Offices.
Key services
Government news and updates, Information on ministries and ministers, Diplomatic missions information, Publications and legislation, Contact and support services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.1.1, Bootstrap 3.3.1, ReadSpeaker, Infogram embed, CookieHub
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by canonical link with https)
  • Use of CAPTCHA in contact form
  • Cookie consent banner implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Siteimprove Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Siteimprove Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official government website of Iceland with comprehensive information on ministries and government activities
  2. No WHOIS data publicly available, typical for government domains in Iceland
  3. Uses modern web technologies and includes accessibility and cookie consent features
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  5. Contact form includes CAPTCHA to prevent spam
  6. No explicit security policy or incident response information published
  7. No visible security headers detected in provided data
  8. Website is well-structured, mobile optimized, and professionally designed
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a custom CMS platform with integration of popular JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Bootstrap for UI components. It leverages third-party services for accessibility (ReadSpeaker), analytics (Siteimprove), and cookie management (CookieHub). The site is mobile responsive and includes accessibility features, indicating adherence to modern web standards. Performance is moderate, with deferred script loading and lazy loading of images. There is an opportunity to improve technical robustness by adding security headers and optimizing third-party dependencies. The infrastructure appears stable and suitable for a government digital 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. 70/100Medium29 findingsView report
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