Skip to main content

Security report for stadt-zuerich.ch

Stadt Zürich · Government · Switzerland

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

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website www.stadt-zuerich.ch serves as the official digital portal for the city of Zurich, Switzerland. It provides comprehensive information about city administration, public services, and online resources for residents and businesses. The site is well-positioned as a trusted government resource, offering current news, event information, and service highlights tailored to its local audience. The business model is centered on public service delivery and transparent communication with the community. Technically, the site is built on Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) and employs modern web components, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. The infrastructure supports good performance and SEO optimization, with clear navigation and mobile-friendly design. Analytics are implemented via Adobe Analytics, though a visible cookie consent mechanism is absent. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and includes key security headers, reflecting a strong security posture. However, it lacks publicly visible security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, which are recommended for enhanced transparency and compliance. No vulnerabilities or suspicious content were detected. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of professionalism and trustworthiness appropriate for a government entity. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance and security transparency would further strengthen its position and user confidence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 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

5 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. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

  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 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 stadt-zuerich.ch

This scan found 19 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
77
Security headers
70
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
73

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

Stadt Zürich operates as the official municipal government entity for Zurich, providing essential public services and information. Its market position is that of a primary authoritative source for local governance and community engagement. The business model is non-commercial, focusing on service provision and citizen support. Key services include education, health, mobility, urban planning, and cultural activities. The target audience comprises residents, businesses, and visitors to Zurich. The website reflects a mature digital presence with consistent branding and a comprehensive content offering. Partnerships or subsidiaries are not evident from the data. Growth indicators include active news updates and event promotion, supporting community involvement.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options, and no detected exposure of sensitive data. The use of Adobe Experience Manager suggests professional content management with security controls. However, the absence of published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure channels indicates room for improvement in transparency and readiness. GDPR compliance is implied but not explicitly detailed on the homepage. The site uses tracking scripts without a visible consent mechanism, which may pose compliance risks. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced user-facing security documentation and privacy controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and frameworks followed.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information, including security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  4. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Enhance data protection officer contact visibility to improve GDPR compliance and user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stadt Zürich
Description
Offizielle Webseite der Stadt Zürich: Informationen über die Verwaltung sowie über Dienstleistungen und Online-Services für die Bevölkerung und Unternehmen. Aktuelles wie Medienmitteilungen, Veranstaltungen, News und Publikationen.
Key services
Verwaltungsinformationen, Dienstleistungen für Einwohner und Unternehmen, Online-Services, Aktuelle Medienmitteilungen, Veranstaltungsinformationen
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Frameworks
Web Components
Platforms
Adobe Experience Manager
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

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

Analytics and tracking

Services
Adobe Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Adobe Analytics
Marketing tools
Adobe Launch
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an official government portal for the city of Zurich.
  2. Content is comprehensive and well-structured for residents and businesses.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage; likely on subpages.
  4. No visible cookie consent banner despite tracking scripts present.
  5. Uses modern web technologies and Adobe Experience Manager CMS.
  6. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and security headers.
  7. No explicit security or incident response policies published on homepage.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  9. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  10. No advertising networks detected beyond Adobe Analytics tracking.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Adobe Experience Manager, leveraging modern web components and JavaScript modules for dynamic content delivery. The HTML structure is valid and includes appropriate meta tags for SEO and social sharing (Open Graph). Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of analytics scripts and preloading of fonts. Accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA roles are implemented, supporting inclusive design. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design elements. No deprecated or vulnerable libraries were detected. Technical risks are minimal, though reliance on third-party analytics without explicit consent mechanisms could pose privacy compliance challenges.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with stadt-zuerich.ch. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review stadt-zuerich.ch.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.