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Security report for riffreporter.de

RiffReporter · Media · Germany

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

RiffReporter is a German cooperative media platform dedicated to independent journalism, focusing on topics such as climate, environment, science, society, and technology. The website presents itself as a professional and well-branded journalistic outlet with a clear target audience of general readers interested in in-depth analyses and reports. The business model revolves around cooperative journalism, providing direct reporting and analysis without intermediary publishers. Technically, the site is built on modern web technologies including React and Next.js, hosted with Cloudflare DNS and CDN services, and uses Matomo for analytics, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS, employs standard security headers, and shows no signs of vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, it lacks explicit privacy and cookie policies and does not provide clear contact information or security incident response details, which are areas for improvement. Overall, the site is trustworthy and professional but could enhance its compliance and transparency aspects.

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

5 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. 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 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';…
  3. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching riffreporter.de

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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
75
Security headers
70
Email security
72
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
33
Average
71

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention riffreporter.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
16
Employees
0
Customers
16
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
25%

3 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for riffreporter.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

RiffReporter occupies a niche position in the German media landscape as a cooperative for free journalism, targeting readers interested in environmental, scientific, and societal issues. Its cooperative structure suggests a community-driven approach to content creation and distribution. The platform likely generates revenue through subscriptions or memberships, given the cooperative model and absence of advertising networks. The use of Matomo analytics reflects a privacy-conscious approach to user data. The website's partnerships or subsidiaries are not explicitly identified, and no payment processors or related business domains were detected. The platform's growth potential lies in expanding its audience and enhancing digital engagement while maintaining editorial independence.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, including HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options. No vulnerable libraries or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The use of Matomo analytics suggests a preference for privacy-friendly tracking. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms indicates gaps in formal security governance and transparency. These gaps could impact user trust and compliance with regulations such as GDPR. The site should consider publishing these policies and providing clear channels for security incident reporting to strengthen its security culture and readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with explicit consent mechanisms to improve GDPR compliance.
  2. Add clear contact information including emails and phone numbers for general and security-related inquiries.
  3. Implement and publish a security policy and incident response plan to enhance transparency and trust.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet higher standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
RiffReporter
Description
Die Genossenschaft für freien Journalismus. Wir berichten direkt für Sie – über Klima, Umwelt, Wissenschaft, Gesellschaft, Technik und die Welt.
Key services
Journalism, Reporting, Analysis, Environmental and scientific news
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Matomo Analytics, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional journalistic platform focused on independent reporting.
  2. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found in the HTML content.
  3. Uses modern web technologies and analytics with Matomo.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the provided HTML snippet.
  5. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information detected.
  6. Good use of SEO and social media metadata.
  7. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  8. WHOIS data shows Cloudflare nameservers and domain status 'connect'.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern JavaScript frameworks, primarily React and Next.js, which support server-side rendering and improved SEO. Hosting and DNS are managed via Cloudflare, providing CDN and security benefits. The site uses Matomo for analytics, favoring privacy over mainstream trackers. Performance appears moderate with preloading of fonts and images, but no explicit performance metrics were available. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and uses semantic HTML and ARIA attributes to some extent, though accessibility could be improved. No common CMS was detected, indicating a custom or proprietary content management solution. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern and well-implemented but could benefit from enhanced accessibility and formalized privacy and security documentation.
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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