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Security report for meteo.be

Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) · Government · Belgium

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) operates the official meteorological website for Belgium, providing comprehensive weather forecasts, observations, warnings, and meteorological research. The website serves a broad audience including the general public and professionals requiring accurate weather data. It is positioned as a trusted government agency with recognized certifications such as ISO9001 and EMAS environmental management system certification. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including jQuery, web components, and Google reCAPTCHA for security. It integrates Matomo analytics for user behavior tracking while maintaining GDPR compliance through clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses bot protection mechanisms. However, it lacks some advanced security headers and does not publish a dedicated security policy or incident response page. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. WHOIS data is restricted due to .be registry policies, but the website's official branding and government affiliation strongly support its legitimacy. Overall, the website demonstrates a strong security posture, high content quality, and good privacy compliance. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing a security policy, and considering a security.txt file to improve transparency and vulnerability management.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of meteo.be. View the latest report

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. 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 meteo.be

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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
72
Security headers
15
Email security
55
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
68

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

RMI holds a strong market position as Belgium's authoritative meteorological institute, operating under government auspices. Its business model is public service-oriented, focusing on delivering reliable weather data and research. The organization benefits from certifications that enhance trust and environmental responsibility. The website supports multilingual access, broadening its reach. Partnerships with Belgian government entities and scientific organizations are evident. The presence of social media channels indicates active engagement with the public. Growth indicators include ongoing research and innovation initiatives. Revenue streams are likely government-funded, with no commercial advertising detected.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS and bot protection via Google reCAPTCHA. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and GDPR-compliant, supported by a consent mechanism. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of a published security or incident response policy represent areas for improvement. No signs of vulnerabilities or data leaks were found. The WHOIS privacy protection is justified given the nature of the organization. Incident response readiness and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly documented, which could be enhanced to strengthen security culture and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response page to inform users and stakeholders.
  3. Consider creating and hosting a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures.
  4. Enhance monitoring and logging to detect and respond to security incidents promptly.
  5. Maintain and regularly update privacy and cookie policies to reflect evolving regulations and practices.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI)
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI)
Description
The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium provides weather forecasts, observations, warnings, and research related to meteorology in Belgium.
Key services
Weather forecasts, Weather observations, Weather warnings, Meteorological research, Pollen allergy forecasts, UV index information, Webcams and weather maps
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, pako, rangeslider, slick, webcomponents-lite, Google reCAPTCHA, Matomo analytics
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo, Google Analytics (via scripts)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official Belgian meteorological institute website
  2. Comprehensive weather forecasts and warnings
  3. Multilingual support with language switcher
  4. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanism
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  7. Social media presence on major platforms
  8. No WHOIS data available due to .be registry restrictions
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and modular front-end architecture with web components and popular JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and slick slider. It integrates Google reCAPTCHA for bot mitigation and Matomo for analytics, indicating a balanced approach to user experience and privacy. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. Performance is moderate, with opportunities to optimize loading times further. The absence of a detected CMS suggests a custom or government-managed platform. Hosting details are not explicit but likely government infrastructure. Technical risks are minimal, with no outdated or vulnerable libraries detected.
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. 68/100Medium31 findingsView report
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