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Security report for ige.ch

Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum · Government · Switzerland

Medium risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum (IGE) is the Swiss federal authority responsible for intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks, designs, geographical indications, and copyright. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for individuals, businesses, and IP professionals to access registration services, legal information, and educational resources. It holds a strong market position as the central Swiss government institution in this domain, offering key services such as public registers, online applications, and IP training through its IP Academy. Technically, the website is built on TYPO3 CMS, leveraging modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks and Google Tag Manager for analytics. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with a professional design and clear navigation. Performance is moderate, suitable for a government portal with rich content. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and employs cookie consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR. However, it lacks explicit security headers and a published security policy or incident response contact. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The WHOIS data confirms the domain's legitimacy as a Swiss federal entity, enhancing trust. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations. It effectively serves its target audience with relevant content and services, though it could improve security posture by adding security headers and vulnerability disclosure information.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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. 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 ige.ch

This scan found 22 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
62
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
75

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

IGE operates as a government agency providing essential intellectual property services to Swiss citizens and businesses. Its business model is regulatory and service-oriented, focusing on IP registration, protection, and education. The portal supports SMEs, innovators, and IP professionals with specialized tools and databases. The institution benefits from strong brand recognition and trust as a federal body. Partnerships with international IP organizations like WIPO and integration with Swissreg and other official databases enhance its service ecosystem. The website content and structure indicate a mature digital presence with ongoing updates and engagement through newsletters and blogs.

Security posture

The website maintains a solid security baseline with HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were found. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of a public security policy or incident response contacts represent areas for improvement. The use of third-party scripts like Google Tag Manager is standard but requires ongoing monitoring. The WHOIS data and domain registration details reinforce the site's legitimacy and reduce risk of phishing or impersonation. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced with additional best practices and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  2. Publish a formal security policy and provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to avoid introducing vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance performance optimization to improve loading speed, especially for mobile users.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum
Description
Das Eidgenössische Institut für Geistiges Eigentum (IGE) in Bern ist die zentrale Anlaufstelle des Bundes für alle Fragen zu Patenten, Marken, Herkunftsbezeichnungen, Designschutz und Urheberrecht.
Key services
Patent registration and examination, Trademark registration and examination, Design protection, Geographical indications, Copyright information, Public registers, Online services and databases, IP Academy training and workshops, Patent and trademark research services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Slimbox2, jQuery (implied by scripts), Slick Carousel
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner with opt-in/out
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally maintained government portal for intellectual property in Switzerland.
  2. Content is comprehensive, multilingual, and well-structured.
  3. Strong focus on user accessibility and legal compliance.
  4. No signs of suspicious or malicious activity.
  5. Use of modern CMS TYPO3 and standard web technologies.
  6. Cookie consent and privacy policies are clearly presented.
  7. Contact information is transparent and complete.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by TYPO3 CMS, a robust open-source content management system widely used in government and enterprise environments. It uses JavaScript libraries including Slimbox2 for image lightboxes and Slick Carousel for sliders. Google Tag Manager is integrated for analytics and marketing. The site is responsive and accessible, with proper meta tags and multilingual support. Performance is moderate, with some room for optimization. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, suitable for a public sector institution. No deprecated or vulnerable technologies were detected in the provided HTML content.
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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