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Security report for mercedes-benz.co.za

Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited · Transportation · South Africa

Partial score · DNS & email only

65/100

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

Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited operates as a subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz AG, providing luxury automotive products and services in South Africa. The website serves as the official portal for new and used vehicle sales, financing, leasing, and after-sales services, targeting affluent customers seeking premium vehicles. The company maintains a strong market position with comprehensive offerings and a well-established brand presence. Technically, the website leverages modern web technologies including Vue.js, Google Tag Manager, and Datadog RUM for performance monitoring and analytics, hosted likely on a robust enterprise platform such as Adobe Experience Manager. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, consent management, and secure login mechanisms, though explicit security headers and incident response contacts could be more transparent. Privacy compliance is well addressed with detailed policies and data protection officer contacts, reflecting adherence to POPIA and GDPR principles. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-optimized for user experience and SEO.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of mercedes-benz.co.za. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
6of 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. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • 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

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

Keep watching mercedes-benz.co.za

This scan found 12 issues across 5 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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Recommended

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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
0
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
65

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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

Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited benefits from its affiliation with the global Mercedes-Benz AG brand, leveraging its reputation and resources. The business model focuses on premium automotive sales and services, supported by financing and leasing options through Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. The target market includes luxury vehicle buyers in South Africa, with a focus on sedans, SUVs, hatchbacks, and commercial vans. The company demonstrates strong compliance with local data protection laws and offers extensive customer support channels. Partnerships with corporate and group domains indicate a cohesive ecosystem. Growth indicators include active marketing campaigns and digital engagement through social media and online appointment scheduling. The company’s operations reflect a mature, enterprise-level organization with a clear focus on customer experience and regulatory compliance.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, secure authentication URLs, and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism. Use of Datadog RUM and Google Tag Manager indicates active monitoring and analytics. However, explicit HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options were not directly observed in the HTML content, suggesting a potential area for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the source. The absence of a public vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information is a gap in transparency. Overall, the site aligns well with best practices but could enhance its security communication and incident readiness disclosures to further build trust.

Recommendations

  1. Publish explicit HTTP security headers and verify their presence in HTTP responses.
  2. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies for security vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance transparency on data protection certifications and compliance audits.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie policies to reflect evolving regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited
VAT number
DE 81 25 26 315
Registration number
1962/000271/06
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Mercedes-Benz South Africa Limited
Description
Mercedes-Benz offers a range of luxury cars in South Africa, including sedans, SUVs and more. Experience a blend of luxury, sportiness & performance.
Key services
New car sales, Used car sales, Vehicle financing and leasing, Service contracts, Online appointment scheduling
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Vue.js 3, Google Tag Manager, Datadog RUM, ES Module Shims, Custom Mercedes-Benz plugins and components
Frameworks
Vue.js
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CSP and other modern security headers (likely)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure login and logout URLs with tokens
  • Consent management for cookies

Analytics and tracking

Services
Datadog RUM, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Salesforce Data Management Platform
Tracking pixels
Datadog RUM, Pixels for analytics and retargeting
Marketing tools
Salesforce DMP
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation
  2. Strong corporate branding and consistent messaging
  3. Comprehensive privacy and legal policies present
  4. Modern web technologies and analytics implemented
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  6. WHOIS data is missing, which is unusual but not necessarily suspicious given the brand
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack centered around Vue.js 3, with extensive use of custom Mercedes-Benz plugins and components. It integrates Google Tag Manager and Datadog RUM for analytics and performance monitoring. The platform appears to be Adobe Experience Manager, a robust enterprise CMS suitable for large-scale corporate websites. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with comprehensive meta tags, Open Graph data, and structured JSON-LD markup. The site uses asynchronous and module-based JavaScript loading to optimize resource delivery. Technical risks are minimal, though continuous monitoring of third-party scripts and dependencies is advised to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 68/100Medium17 findings · partial scanView report
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