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Security report for heise.de

Heise Medien · Media · Germany

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

82/100

Risk levelLow

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

Heise Medien operates www.heise.de, a leading German technology news and media portal offering IT news, analysis, forums, and specialized magazines. The site targets IT professionals and technology enthusiasts with a comprehensive content offering including subscription-based premium content (heise+), advertising, and affiliate marketing. The company maintains a strong market position in the German media landscape with multiple subsidiary publications and services. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies, including a robust CMS (InterRed), advanced consent management, and analytics tools, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and GDPR compliance, though incident response and explicit security policy pages are not publicly found. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with no critical vulnerabilities detected.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of heise.de. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 100 · Low
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

2 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

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

Keep watching heise.de

This scan found 16 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
95
Security headers
65
Email security
75
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
82

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 heise.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
8,389
Employees
0
Customers
8,320
Third parties
69
Weak passwords
16%

23 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for heise.de.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Heise Medien's market positioning as a premier German technology media company is supported by its diversified portfolio of magazines and online services. The business model combines advertising revenue, subscription services, and affiliate marketing. The target audience includes IT professionals, tech enthusiasts, and the general public interested in technology. The company demonstrates growth through digital transformation, leveraging analytics and marketing tools to optimize user engagement. Partnerships and subsidiaries like Telepolis and heise autos expand its ecosystem. The company shows strategic focus on compliance and user privacy, aligning with GDPR requirements.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and consent management for GDPR compliance. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analyzed content. However, there is no explicit public incident response contact or security policy page, which could enhance transparency and readiness. The use of third-party analytics and marketing scripts is managed with user consent, reducing privacy risks. Overall, the security maturity is high, but continuous monitoring and explicit incident response information are recommended.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency.
  2. Regularly audit third-party scripts to ensure ongoing privacy compliance and security.
  3. Enhance contact information with explicit security and abuse reporting channels.
  4. Maintain up-to-date consent management aligned with evolving GDPR requirements.
  5. Continue investing in performance and accessibility improvements to sustain user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Heise Medien
Description
News und Foren zu Computer, IT, Wissenschaft, Medien und Politik. Preisvergleich von Hardware und Software sowie Downloads bei Heise Medien.
Key services
IT news and analysis, Online magazines (ct, iX, Mac & i, Make, etc.), Price comparison, Software downloads, Forums and community, Subscription content (heise+)
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, JSON-LD, InterRed CMS, Cloudimg.io (image CDN), UpScore (recommendation engine), Sourcepoint CMP (consent management), Webtrekk (analytics), Kameleoon (A/B testing), Mateti (marketing), Google Fonts, Bootstrap
Frameworks
InterRed CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CSP
  • Consent management for GDPR
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure login forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Webtrekk, UpScore
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
UpScore, Mateti
Tracking pixels
Webtrekk, Kameleoon
Marketing tools
Kameleoon, Mateti
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 technology news portal.
  2. Strong compliance with GDPR and privacy regulations.
  3. Comprehensive content with multiple specialized magazines and services.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and performance optimizations.
  5. Active use of consent management and analytics tools.
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  7. Clear business model with subscription and advertising revenue.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including InterRed CMS, JavaScript frameworks, JSON-LD for structured data, and advanced consent management tools. Performance is optimized with image CDNs and preloading strategies. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with SEO best practices implemented via meta tags and structured data. The technical infrastructure supports a large content volume and diverse services. Opportunities exist to further modernize by adopting newer JavaScript frameworks or enhancing real-time content delivery. Technical risks are minimal, with no critical vulnerabilities detected in the current analysis.
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. 82/100Low23 findingsView report
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