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Security report for vdek-arztlotse.de

vdek - Verband der Ersatzkassen e.V. · Healthcare · Germany

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Email security and 2 other checks.

Security score

53/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The vdek-Arztlotse website is a healthcare information platform operated by the vdek - Verband der Ersatzkassen e.V., a German health insurance association. It provides comprehensive search and rating services for doctors, dentists, and psychotherapists across Germany, targeting patients and the general public seeking medical professionals. The platform is well-positioned within the German healthcare sector as a trusted source of medical provider information. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and uses Adobe Experience Manager as its CMS. It integrates Piwik (Matomo) analytics for user tracking and demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices. The site is served over HTTPS, ensuring secure communications. From a security perspective, the site follows basic best practices such as HTTPS enforcement and secure form handling. However, it lacks explicit security headers and a cookie consent mechanism, which are areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The WHOIS data aligns well with the website's public healthcare association identity, indicating legitimacy and consistency. Overall, the website presents a low risk profile with good business credibility and technical maturity. Strategic recommendations include implementing security headers, adding cookie consent for GDPR compliance, publishing a security policy, and providing direct contact information for improved transparency and trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 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

9 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

  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.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  3. 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 vdek-arztlotse.de

This scan found 29 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
67
Security headers
25
Email security
40
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
53

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 vdek-arztlotse.de, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for vdek-arztlotse.de right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

vdek-Arztlotse operates as an important entity within the healthcare sector in Germany, providing a valuable service by aggregating and presenting information about medical professionals. Its business model is service-oriented, focusing on information dissemination rather than direct commercial transactions. The platform benefits from its association with the reputable vdek health insurance association, enhancing trust and market position. The target audience includes patients and healthcare consumers in Germany. The website's partnership with arzt-auskunft.de and gesund-digital.info indicates a collaborative ecosystem aimed at improving healthcare information accessibility. Growth potential lies in expanding digital services such as online appointment scheduling and enhanced user engagement features.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security posture with HTTPS enabled and secure form submissions. The absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents a gap that could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is published, which limits transparency in security management. The use of Piwik analytics suggests moderate user tracking, but no excessive third-party trackers were found. Overall, the security maturity is adequate for the site's purpose but could be enhanced by adopting additional security best practices and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Introduce a clear cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve trust and preparedness.
  4. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and improve security communication.
  5. Provide direct contact information such as official emails and phone numbers on the website to enhance user trust and accessibility.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
vdek - Verband der Ersatzkassen e.V.
Description
Als Arztsuche und Arztbewertung des Verbandes der Ersatzkassen (vdek) bietet der vdek-Arztlotse Informationen zu allen Ärzten und Zahnärzten in Deutschland.
Key services
Arztsuche (doctor search), Zahnarztsuche (dentist search), Psychotherapeutensuche (psychotherapist search), Doctor ratings and reviews, Online appointment scheduling
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Piwik (Matomo) Analytics
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure form with POST method

Analytics and tracking

Services
Piwik (Matomo)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Piwik (Matomo)
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professional and relevant to healthcare information services.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banner detected, which is a minor compliance gap.
  4. Use of Piwik analytics indicates some user tracking but no major third-party trackers.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML; contact likely via contact page form.
  6. No social media links detected in the provided HTML.
  7. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure found.
  8. Website uses HTTPS and modern web standards with good accessibility features.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technical stack with Adobe Experience Manager as the CMS, leveraging HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. It uses deferred and asynchronous loading for scripts, including Piwik analytics, which helps performance. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with skip links and contrast mode features. SEO meta tags are properly configured. However, the absence of explicit security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates areas for technical improvement. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but DNS name servers suggest a stable and professional hosting environment.
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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