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Security report for nos.nl

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting · Media · Netherlands

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

NOS.nl is the official website of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, a leading public broadcaster in the Netherlands. The site offers comprehensive news, sports, and event coverage through multiple media formats including live streaming and video content. It serves a broad Dutch audience with a focus on timely and relevant information. The website is well-established with a domain age dating back to 1995 and is operated under the parent organization NPO. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies such as React and Next.js, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. Security practices include HTTPS enforcement and the use of Sentry for error tracking, though there is room for improvement in security headers and DNSSEC implementation. Privacy compliance is currently weak due to the absence of explicit privacy and cookie policies in the accessible content. Overall, NOS.nl presents a professional and trustworthy digital presence consistent with its role as a national public broadcaster.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

2 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

  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 nos.nl

This scan found 16 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

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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
55
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
81

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

NOS holds a strong market position as the primary public media outlet in the Netherlands, supported by its parent organization NPO. Its business model centers on public broadcasting funded through government and public sources, focusing on delivering news and sports content. The website's partnership with NPO Start and integration with other NPO platforms indicates a cohesive ecosystem. The target audience is the general Dutch population seeking reliable news and live event coverage. The site’s content quality and branding consistency reinforce its credibility and authority in the media sector. While revenue streams are not explicitly detailed, the public broadcasting model suggests funding through public means rather than commercial advertising. Strategic partnerships and a long domain history contribute to its competitive advantage.

Security posture

The security posture of NOS.nl is solid with mandatory HTTPS usage and no visible exposure of sensitive data or vulnerable libraries. The use of Sentry indicates active monitoring of runtime errors. However, the lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represent areas for enhancement. No incident response or security policy information is publicly available, which could hinder transparency and readiness in case of security events. The absence of a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file limits external security collaboration. Overall, the site demonstrates good baseline security but should adopt additional best practices to strengthen its defense and compliance posture.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement and publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to enhance GDPR compliance and user trust.
  3. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to harden the website against common attacks.
  4. Establish and disclose an incident response policy and contact channels to improve transparency and preparedness.
  5. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Nederlandse Omroep Stichting
Description
NOS.nl provides news, sports, and event coverage on radio, TV, and internet platforms.
Key services
News reporting, Sports coverage, Live streaming, Video content
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Sentry (error tracking), Video.js, CSS Modules, Webmanifest, Apple Touch Icons
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries
  • No forms detected that collect sensitive data

Analytics and tracking

Services
Sentry (error tracking)
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Sentry
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Notes

NOS.nl is built using a modern technology stack centered around React and Next.js, enabling server-side rendering and optimized performance. The site uses CSS modules and custom fonts loaded from static assets, contributing to a consistent and professional design. Hosting appears to be managed via a dedicated CDN (cdn.nos.nl), ensuring fast content delivery. The site includes accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA labels, supporting usability for diverse users. SEO is supported by comprehensive meta tags including Open Graph and Twitter Cards. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary content management solution. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust, scalable, and well-suited for a high-traffic public media website.
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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