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Security report for koelnbusiness.de

Koeln.Business · Government · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and Network security.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Koeln.Business is the official economic development agency for the city of Cologne, Germany, providing support for businesses, startups, and investors. The website offers services such as funding consultation and business facilitation, targeting entrepreneurs and startups primarily within Cologne. The organization positions itself as a key facilitator for economic growth and business establishment in the region. Technically, the website is built on TYPO3 CMS, a mature and widely used content management system, and incorporates modern JavaScript libraries such as Slick Slider and Owl Carousel for enhanced user experience. Cookiebot is implemented for GDPR-compliant cookie consent management, and Matomo Analytics is used for privacy-conscious visitor tracking. The site is mobile-optimized and demonstrates good SEO and accessibility practices. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism. However, it lacks publicly available security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure information, which are recommended for improving transparency and trust. No critical vulnerabilities or suspicious content were detected. Overall, Koeln.Business presents a professional and trustworthy online presence consistent with a government economic development entity. The domain WHOIS data is privacy protected but shows no signs of suspicious activity. Strategic recommendations include publishing security and incident response policies, enhancing security headers, and maintaining regular audits of third-party scripts to sustain a strong security posture.

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

4 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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. 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

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

Keep watching koelnbusiness.de

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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
100
Security headers
25
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
83
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

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 koelnbusiness.de, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for koelnbusiness.de right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Koeln.Business operates as a government entity focused on promoting economic development in Cologne. Its market positioning is strong as the official business support agency, offering funding advice and startup assistance. The business model revolves around facilitating investment and business growth in the region, targeting entrepreneurs and startups. Revenue streams are likely public funding and service facilitation rather than direct sales. The partnership ecosystem includes technology providers like TYPO3 and Cookiebot. Growth indicators include multilingual support and comprehensive service offerings. The company maintains a consistent brand and professional content, reinforcing its credibility in the government sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement and a detailed cookie consent mechanism supporting GDPR compliance. The use of Matomo Analytics indicates a preference for privacy-respecting analytics. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure reduces transparency and may impact user trust. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. Security headers were not explicitly identified and should be reviewed. Overall, the security maturity is good but can be improved by adding formal security documentation and enhancing HTTP security headers.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information to facilitate reporting of security issues.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  4. Add and enforce HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Koeln.Business
Description
Sie haben ein Unternehmen, möchten investieren, gründen oder in Köln arbeiten? Wir unterstützen Sie dabei. Mehr erfahren!
Key services
Fördermittelberatung, Business support, Investment facilitation, Startup support
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, Cookiebot, Slick Slider, Owl Carousel, Google reCAPTCHA, Matomo Analytics
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 granular controls
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google
Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Cookiebot
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professional, well-structured, and targeted at business and startup audiences in Cologne.
  3. Cookie consent and privacy compliance are well implemented with detailed cookie categories and descriptions.
  4. WHOIS data is privacy protected, limiting registrant transparency but consistent with legitimate use.
  5. No security policy or incident response information publicly available; an area for improvement.
  6. Use of TYPO3 CMS and modern JS libraries indicates a mature technical stack.
  7. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  8. No explicit contact emails found in the HTML; phone number and physical address are present in structured data.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on TYPO3 CMS, a robust and scalable content management system suitable for government and enterprise use. It integrates modern JavaScript libraries for UI components and uses Cookiebot for consent management, ensuring GDPR compliance. The site is mobile-optimized and includes multilingual support, enhancing accessibility and user experience. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. No hosting provider details were identified from the HTML content. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, supporting the business goals effectively.
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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