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Security report for stad.gent

Stad Gent · Government · Belgium

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, Email security and 1 other check.

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

Stad Gent operates as the official municipal government portal for the city of Ghent, Belgium, providing a wide range of public services and information to residents and visitors. The website is well-structured, multilingual, and offers comprehensive access to civil affairs, cultural activities, mobility, education, business support, and social welfare services. The site leverages modern web technologies including Drupal 10, Google Tag Manager, and Cookiebot for analytics and privacy compliance. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and security headers, though explicit security policies and incident response information are not publicly detailed. Overall, the website demonstrates a mature digital presence suitable for a large government entity, with good privacy compliance and user experience.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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

3 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 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. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

  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

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 24 days

      What to do: Renew SSL certificate before expiration

      • NIS2 21(2)(h)
      • IR 2024/2690 9.2(c): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 9.2(c): Cryptography
      • NIST SC-17: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-17: Public Key Infrastructure Certificates

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

Keep watching stad.gent

This scan found 15 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

€25per month

  • 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
85
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
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

The website serves as a critical digital touchpoint for the city government of Ghent, targeting local residents, businesses, and visitors. It supports municipal operations by providing online forms, appointment scheduling, and information dissemination. The business model is public service oriented, funded by government resources. The site’s partnerships with related domains such as appointments and job portals indicate an integrated ecosystem. The presence of comprehensive content and clear navigation supports strong market positioning as the authoritative source for city services. Growth indicators include multilingual support and integration of modern analytics and consent management tools.

Security posture

The website maintains a good security posture with HTTPS, modern security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities in the HTML content. However, the absence of a dedicated security policy page, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms suggests room for improvement in transparency and readiness. The use of third-party scripts is controlled with consent mechanisms, reducing privacy risks. No exposed sensitive data or outdated libraries were detected. Overall, the security maturity is appropriate for a government website but could be enhanced by publishing explicit security governance documents.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance contact information with explicit security and privacy contacts, including a Data Protection Officer if applicable.
  5. Continue to monitor and improve privacy compliance, especially regarding data retention and user consent.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Stad Gent
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stad Gent
Description
Official city government website providing information and services related to civil affairs, culture, sports, mobility, childcare, education, business, environment, housing, social welfare, and city administration for the city of Ghent, Belgium.
Key services
Civil affairs (identity, moving, birth, death, marriage), Culture and leisure activities, Sports facilities and events, Mobility and public works information, Childcare and education resources, Business and entrepreneurship support, Environmental and green initiatives, Housing and urban development, Social welfare and health services, City governance and administration
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Google Tag Manager, Cookiebot, Google Optimize, GovFlanders Widgets
Frameworks
Drupal
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

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

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Optimize, Cookiebot
Marketing tools
Google Optimize, Cookiebot
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official municipal government website for the city of Gent, Belgium.
  2. Content is comprehensive and well-structured.
  3. Multiple language support (nl, en, fr, de).
  4. Use of modern web technologies and compliance tools.
  5. Clear navigation with categorized services.
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  7. Good privacy and cookie policy implementation.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response page found.
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and secure CMS platform, and uses Google Tag Manager and Cookiebot for analytics and cookie consent management. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices evident from meta tags and structured navigation. Performance is moderate, likely due to the comprehensive content and third-party integrations. Hosting details are not explicit but the site uses HTTPS with strong SSL configuration. Technical risks are minimal but ongoing maintenance of third-party dependencies and security headers is recommended to sustain the current posture.
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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