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Security report for hwk-saarland.de

Handwerkskammer des Saarlandes · Government · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and Network security.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Handwerkskammer des Saarlandes is a regional government institution dedicated to supporting the craft and trade sector in Saarland, Germany. The organization provides comprehensive services including vocational training, further education, business start-up consulting, and operational support to handcraft businesses and individuals. The website reflects a well-established entity with a strong regional presence and a focus on quality and accessibility. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern JavaScript frameworks like Vue.js, ensuring a responsive and user-friendly experience. Security measures such as HTTPS, HSTS, and SPF are properly implemented, though there is room for improvement in OCSP stapling and certificate transparency. Privacy compliance is robust with a clear privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure aligned with its public service mission.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
18/ 100 · Critical
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

4 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

    • 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

  2. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

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Keep watching hwk-saarland.de

This scan found 23 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
87
Security headers
80
Email security
55
DNS health
80
Network security
75
GDPR outside view
18
Average
66

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 Handwerkskammer des Saarlandes occupies a key position as a government entity serving the regional handcraft industry. Its business model revolves around providing educational, advisory, and regulatory services to apprentices, businesses, and entrepreneurs. The website targets multiple audiences including students, businesses, and start-ups, offering tailored content and tools such as job boards and online appointment scheduling. Partnerships with regional and national organizations enhance its ecosystem. The institution's longevity and branding consistency reinforce its credibility and trustworthiness in the market.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security posture with enforced HTTPS, modern TLS protocols, and HSTS with subdomain inclusion. SPF records are correctly configured to prevent email spoofing. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the absence of OCSP stapling and certificate transparency compliance are minor gaps. The site uses secure login forms with support for two-factor authentication. Cookie consent is managed via a reputable plugin, supporting GDPR compliance. Overall, the security measures are appropriate for a government service website, with recommendations to further enhance certificate management and security headers.

Recommendations

  1. Enable OCSP stapling on the web server to improve SSL certificate revocation checks and reduce latency.
  2. Implement Certificate Transparency compliance to enhance trust and detect misissued certificates.
  3. Add CAA DNS records to restrict which certificate authorities can issue certificates for the domain.
  4. Enhance email security by deploying a DMARC policy with reporting addresses to monitor and prevent spoofing.
  5. Review and add additional security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web attacks.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Handwerkskammer des Saarlandes
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by WordPress CMS with a modern frontend stack including Vue.js and Bootstrap 4, providing a responsive and accessible user interface. Performance is moderate with a page load time of approximately 5.3 seconds and 150 resources loaded, indicating potential optimization opportunities. The site uses multiple JavaScript libraries for UI components, form validation, and analytics. DNS and hosting are managed by Key-Systems GmbH with stable DNS resolution times. SSL configuration supports TLS 1.3 and 1.2 with no weak cipher suites detected. Accessibility features such as ARIA roles and keyboard navigation aids are implemented. SEO is supported by Yoast SEO plugin with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust but could benefit from performance tuning and enhanced SSL features.
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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