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Security report for stadt-koeln.de

Stadt Köln · Government · Germany

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and Security headers.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website www.stadt-koeln.de serves as the official digital portal for the City of Cologne's municipal government. It provides comprehensive information and services to residents, businesses, and visitors, including citizen services, political and administrative information, cultural events, social services, and job opportunities. The site is well-branded and consistent with the identity of a large public sector entity, targeting a broad audience within the Cologne region. Technically, the website employs a mature technology stack including jQuery, Bootstrap 5, and various third-party tools such as Matomo for analytics and ReadSpeaker for accessibility. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with a moderate performance profile. Hosting and domain registration details align with a legitimate German municipal entity. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and implements some best practices, though explicit security headers and a published security policy are absent. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. Privacy compliance is generally good with a comprehensive privacy policy present, but the lack of a cookie consent mechanism is a notable gap. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of professionalism and trustworthiness appropriate for a government portal. Strategic improvements in privacy consent and security transparency would further enhance its posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of stadt-koeln.de. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 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

  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 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';…

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Keep watching stadt-koeln.de

This scan found 22 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.

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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
85
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
Average
66

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 stadt-koeln.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
936
Employees
0
Customers
833
Third parties
103
Weak passwords
20%

50 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 stadt-koeln.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

Stadt Köln operates as a large government entity providing essential municipal services. Its market position is that of the official city government, serving residents, businesses, and visitors. The business model is public sector service delivery, funded by public resources. Key services include administrative support, cultural programming, social services, and employment opportunities. The website supports engagement through multiple channels including social media and online forms. The presence of partner domains related to city services and tourism indicates a broad partnership ecosystem. Growth indicators include active event promotion and job listings, reflecting ongoing municipal activities.

Security posture

The website maintains a good security baseline with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive data. The use of deferred and asynchronous scripts reduces risk. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options limits protection against certain attack vectors. No incident response or security contact information is published, which could hinder timely vulnerability reporting and response. The site uses third-party analytics and accessibility tools, which require ongoing monitoring for privacy compliance. Overall, the security maturity is moderate with room for improvement in policy transparency and header implementation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR requirements.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and provide dedicated incident response contact channels.
  3. Add and enforce security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  4. Regularly update and audit third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Consider publishing a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stadt Köln
Description
Willkommen bei der Stadtverwaltung Köln. Hier finden Sie Ihre Ansprechpersonen, Dienstleistungen und Informationen zu aktuellen Themen.
Key services
Citizen services, Information on politics and administration, Cultural and social services, Job offers and career information, Event calendar, Online forms and appointments
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.8.2, jQuery UI 1.9.0, Bootstrap 5.1.3, Modernizr, Slick Slider, Matomo Analytics, ReadSpeaker, eTracker, conword.io translation widget
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of deferred and async scripts
  • No inline event handlers detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo, eTracker
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo, eTracker
Marketing tools
ReadSpeaker, conword.io translation widget
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is the official portal for the City of Cologne government.
  2. Content is comprehensive, well-structured, and professionally presented.
  3. Multiple language options available via translation widget.
  4. Strong focus on citizen services, events, and municipal information.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  7. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected, which could be improved.
  8. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  9. Social media presence is extensive and official.
  10. No exposed sensitive data or obvious vulnerabilities found in HTML content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a stable and mature technology stack featuring jQuery, Bootstrap 5, and Modernizr, ensuring compatibility and responsiveness. The CMS appears to be Imperia, a known German content management system for public sector websites. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization especially in script loading and image delivery. Accessibility is supported through ReadSpeaker integration and semantic HTML. SEO is well addressed with meta tags and structured navigation. The site uses Matomo and eTracker for analytics, balancing data collection with privacy considerations. Hosting is managed via German anycast DNS providers, supporting reliability and regional compliance.
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. 66/100Medium30 findingsView report
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