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Security report for kosmos.de

KOSMOS Verlag · Retail · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

KOSMOS Verlag is a well-established German publishing company specializing in games, children's and youth books, experiment kits, and related educational products. The website reflects a professional e-commerce platform targeting families, children, and hobbyists interested in educational and entertainment products. The site uses modern web technologies including JavaScript modules, AJAX for search suggestions, and integrates a consent management platform (Usercentrics) to comply with privacy regulations. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and marketing purposes. Security posture is good with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though explicit security headers and a published security policy are absent. WHOIS data is minimal, lacking detailed registrant information, which slightly reduces domain trustworthiness but does not contradict the website's legitimacy. Overall, the site is safe, family-friendly, and professionally maintained.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
33/ 100 · High
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. 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 kosmos.de

This scan found 21 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

€25per month

  • 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
77
Security headers
85
Email security
60
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
33
Average
70

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

KOSMOS Verlag holds a strong market position in the German retail and publishing sector, leveraging well-known brands such as CATAN and EXIT. Their business model combines product publishing with direct e-commerce sales, including digital offerings like e-books and audiobooks. The website's navigation and content structure support a broad product catalog segmented by categories and brands, indicating a mature digital presence. The use of external customer service via Zendesk suggests a focus on scalable support. The company targets a broad demographic including children, youth, and families, positioning itself as a trusted provider of educational and entertainment products. The absence of detailed WHOIS data is a minor concern but does not detract from the overall business credibility.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with HTTPS enabled and integration of a consent management platform to handle GDPR compliance. No security headers were detected in the provided HTML, which is an area for improvement. There is no visible sensitive data leakage or vulnerable libraries. The lack of a published security policy, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure program indicates room for maturity in security governance. The use of Google Tag Manager and Usercentrics is standard for marketing and privacy compliance but requires careful configuration to avoid privacy risks. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by adding explicit security headers and transparency documents.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a clear and accessible privacy policy and terms of service on the website.
  2. Implement and document a security policy including incident response contacts.
  3. Add standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Provide vulnerability disclosure information or a security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Enhance WHOIS transparency by ensuring registrant information is complete and consistent with the business.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
KOSMOS Verlag
Description
KOSMOS Verlag is a German publishing company offering a broad range of products including games, children's and youth books, experiment kits, and guides.
Key services
Publishing books and games, Selling experiment kits, Offering digital products like e-books, audiobooks, and apps
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript ES Modules, Usercentrics Consent Management, Google Tag Manager, SVG icons, AJAX for search suggestions
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Consent management via Usercentrics
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
Usercentrics Consent Management
Transparency
basic

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 professionally presented and targeted at families and children.
  3. Strong use of brand-related content and product categories.
  4. Privacy compliance is supported by Usercentrics CMP.
  5. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service links found in the provided HTML snippet.
  6. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content.
  7. Use of external support platform (Zendesk) for service requests.
  8. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses modern JavaScript modules and AJAX for dynamic features like search suggestions, indicating a contemporary front-end architecture. The integration of Usercentrics for consent management and Google Tag Manager for analytics reflects a mature approach to privacy and marketing. The site appears mobile-optimized with responsive design elements. No explicit CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. Performance is moderate with critical CSS and non-critical CSS separated, which is a good practice. Accessibility features are basic but present. Hosting provider details are not explicit, and no CDN usage was identified in the provided data. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust e-commerce experience but could benefit from enhanced accessibility and security header implementation.
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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