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Security report for groningen.nl

Groningen.nl · Government · Netherlands

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

80/100

Risk levelLow

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

Groningen.nl is the official digital portal for the city and province of Groningen in the Netherlands, providing comprehensive information and services for residents, visitors, and businesses. The website serves as a central hub for local government information, event agendas, business resources, and community news, positioning itself as a trusted regional government resource. The site demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure with modern JavaScript frameworks, SEO optimization, and accessibility considerations. It integrates analytics and user behavior tracking tools such as Google Analytics and Hotjar, with privacy compliance mechanisms including cookie consent banners and GDPR-aligned privacy policies. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and DNSSEC enabled, though there is room for improvement in publishing explicit security policies and incident response contacts. Overall, the website reflects a professional, trustworthy, and user-centric government service platform.

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

3 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 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 groningen.nl

This scan found 17 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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  • 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
72
Security headers
65
Email security
97
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
80

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 website targets a broad audience including local residents, tourists, students, and businesses, offering tailored content for each segment. Its business model is that of a government information portal, focusing on public service rather than commercial revenue. The domain's long history since 1996 and consistent WHOIS data reinforce its legitimacy and stable market position. Partnerships with official government entities such as the city and provincial administrations and tourism boards enhance its ecosystem. The site’s content strategy emphasizes community engagement, economic development, and cultural promotion, supporting regional growth and visibility. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers suggests reliance on web forms and partner channels for communication.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with DNSSEC, indicating a strong baseline for secure communications and domain integrity. Security best practices include anonymizing IP addresses in analytics and providing cookie consent mechanisms. However, the site lacks visible explicit security policies, incident response procedures, and vulnerability disclosure channels such as security.txt. The use of deprecated Universal Analytics should be updated to GA4 to maintain compliance and security. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing incident response contacts, and formalizing vulnerability disclosure processes to improve overall security maturity.

Recommendations

  1. Migrate from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 to ensure ongoing support and compliance.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  4. Add advanced security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options.
  5. Provide explicit contact details for the Data Protection Officer to enhance GDPR transparency.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Groningen.nl
Description
De website voor al je informatie over stad en provincie Groningen. Hier vind je informatie voor bewoners, bezoekers en bedrijven.
Key services
Information for residents, Visitor information, Business support and resources, Event agenda, News and articles
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript ES modules, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics (Universal Analytics deprecated), Hotjar, YouTube iframe API
Frameworks
Vite (build tool)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • DNSSEC enabled
  • Cookie consent banner with preferences
  • IP anonymization in Google Analytics

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (Universal Analytics deprecated), Google Tag Manager, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar
Marketing tools
Hotjar
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is official regional government portal for Groningen city and province
  2. Content is comprehensive and well-structured for residents, visitors, and businesses
  3. Modern frontend technologies used with good SEO and accessibility practices
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are present with consent mechanisms
  5. No explicit security or incident response policies found
  6. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in provided content
  7. Strong trust signals from domain age, DNSSEC, HTTPS, and partner links
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern frontend stack with ES modules and Vite as the build tool, ensuring efficient loading and modular code management. Integration with Google Tag Manager and Hotjar supports analytics and user experience optimization. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features, contributing to excellent user experience and SEO. Hosting details are not explicitly disclosed, but the presence of DNSSEC and HTTPS indicates a secure hosting environment. Performance is fast with preloading of fonts and optimized media. Technical debt appears low, though updating deprecated analytics and enhancing security headers would further modernize the infrastructure.
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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