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Security report for localcities.ch

Localcities · Government · Switzerland

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Localcities is a Swiss-focused digital platform providing residents and stakeholders with comprehensive municipality-related information including events, clubs, contacts, weather, emergency numbers, and directories. The platform serves as a centralized hub for local community engagement and information dissemination, targeting Swiss municipalities and their inhabitants. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including responsive design, SVG icons, and Google Tag Manager for analytics, ensuring a good user experience across devices. The presence of cookie consent and privacy policies indicates attention to privacy compliance. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though security headers and incident response information are absent. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-positioned in its niche, with room for improvement in explicit security disclosures and contact transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 100 · Medium
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. 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 localcities.ch

This scan found 20 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
15
Email security
75
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
73

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

Localcities operates in the government and community information sector, focusing on Swiss municipalities. Its business model revolves around providing localized data and services such as event calendars, club directories, and contact information, likely monetized through partnerships or municipal contracts. The platform benefits from a strong Swiss identity and partnerships with localsearch.ch, enhancing credibility. The ecosystem includes multiple specialized subdomains for managing different aspects of municipality data, indicating a scalable and modular approach. The target audience includes residents, local clubs, politicians, and municipal administrators. Growth potential lies in expanding service offerings and deepening integration with municipal administrations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place. However, it lacks visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and does not provide explicit security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerability disclosures or security.txt files are present, which could improve transparency and trust. The use of Google Tag Manager introduces moderate tracking but is managed with consent. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by adopting additional best practices and publishing security-related documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency.
  2. Add security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Consider adding clear company contact information including emails and phone numbers to improve user trust and support.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to ensure privacy compliance and minimize user tracking.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Localcities
Description
Localcities provides comprehensive local municipality information including events, public holidays, waste collection dates, weather forecasts, addresses, clubs, associations, politicians, athletes, and emergency numbers tailored to Swiss municipalities.
Key services
Municipality information, Events calendar, Clubs and associations directory, Weather service, Emergency numbers, Telephone and business directories, Municipality contacts, Athlete and politician profiles, Waste disposal calendar, Holiday calendar
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, CookieLaw.org script, SVG icons, Responsive images with WebP support
Frameworks
Bootstrap (navbar classes suggest usage)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for analytics
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website provides comprehensive local municipality information for Switzerland.
  2. Strong branding and consistent design with Swiss identity.
  3. Multiple service portals for different municipality-related functions.
  4. Good privacy and cookie policy presence with consent mechanism.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on main site.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and responsive design.
  7. No visible security policy or incident response contacts.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  9. External links mostly to trusted domains and related subdomains.
  10. Social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack with JavaScript, SVG icons, and responsive images supporting WebP format for performance optimization. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and marketing purposes. The site structure suggests use of Bootstrap or similar CSS framework for responsive layout. The presence of data-js-* attributes indicates possible use of a JavaScript framework like Vue.js or React for dynamic content. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags including Open Graph and Twitter cards. No CMS or hosting provider details were detected. Opportunities exist to improve accessibility and performance further by optimizing scripts and adding ARIA attributes.
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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