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Security report for havas.com

Havas · Media · N/a

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and GDPR outside view.

Security score

78/100

Risk levelLow

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

Havas is a leading global communications group specializing in a wide range of marketing and communication services including consultancy, creative, media, and public affairs. The company positions itself as a growth enabler powered by desire, targeting businesses seeking impactful brand and communication strategies. The website reflects a mature digital presence with rich multimedia content, clear navigation, and comprehensive corporate information including investor relations and sustainability initiatives. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern JavaScript libraries and includes privacy-focused analytics and cookie consent mechanisms, demonstrating a commitment to user privacy and compliance. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and captcha protections, though explicit security headers and incident response information are absent. The absence of WHOIS data is notable and warrants further investigation, but the website content and branding strongly support legitimacy. Overall, Havas presents a professional, trustworthy, and well-structured digital front for its enterprise operations.

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. 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

  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

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

Keep watching havas.com

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.

Daily monitoring

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
54
Security headers
90
Email security
73
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
78

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

Havas operates in the media and communications sector as an enterprise-level global group. Its business model revolves around providing integrated communication services including consultancy, creative production, media buying, and corporate communications. The company targets corporate clients and investors, supported by a robust investor relations section and regulated information disclosures. The presence of sustainability and impact campaigns indicates a strategic focus on corporate responsibility. The website's multilingual support and global agency finder suggest a broad international footprint. Partnerships with brands like Meaningful Brands and a strong social media presence enhance its market positioning. The lack of explicit founding year or parent company data limits deeper historical insights but the brand's global recognition and scale are evident.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with a valid SSL configuration, uses privacy-by-design analytics (Matomo Cloud), and integrates a cookie consent management tool (Tarteaucitron) with granular user controls. Captcha implementation on forms adds protection against automated abuse. However, the site lacks explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options, which are recommended best practices. No visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency in security governance. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved with additional headers and formal security disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and trust.
  2. Add security headers including Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options to strengthen protection against common web attacks.
  3. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program or publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Conduct regular audits of third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced via dependencies.
  5. Improve accessibility compliance to meet higher standards and enhance user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Havas
Description
Havas is one of the world’s largest global communications groups and its mission is to unlock growth powered desire.
Key services
Business Consultancy & Transformation, Brand Consultancy & Design, Creative, Media, Health & Wellness, Customer Experience, PR, Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, Brand Partnership, Sponsorship & Events, Production & Content at Scale
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Tiny Slider, Tarteaucitron (cookie consent), Matomo Cloud (analytics), Friendly Challenge (captcha)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with granular controls
  • Use of captcha for forms
  • Privacy by design analytics (Matomo Cloud)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo Cloud
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo Cloud
Marketing tools
Matomo Cloud, Tarteaucitron
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and multimedia
  2. Strong corporate branding and consistent messaging
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with user consent mechanisms
  4. No visible security policy or incident response information
  5. WHOIS data missing, which is unusual for a large enterprise domain
  6. Use of modern web technologies and analytics with privacy focus
  7. No suspicious or malicious content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by WordPress CMS with jQuery and Tiny Slider libraries for UI components. It uses Tarteaucitron for cookie consent management and Matomo Cloud for privacy-focused analytics. The site loads resources from trusted CDNs and includes a captcha widget for form protection. Performance is moderate with some large media assets but overall good mobile optimization and responsive design. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured data in JSON-LD format. Accessibility features are basic but present. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified from the HTML content. The technical stack is modern and well-integrated, supporting a professional digital presence with room for security and accessibility enhancements.
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. 87/100Low16 findingsView report
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