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Security report for vmm.be

Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij · Government · Belgium

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij (VMM) is the official environmental agency of the Flemish government, focused on making the living environment in Flanders climate-resilient through sustainable air, water, and climate adaptation policies. The organization collaborates with local and international partners to execute environmental projects and provides a broad range of services and products to citizens, businesses, and local governments. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content and clear navigation tailored to its diverse audience. Technically, the website leverages modern web technologies including React and the Plone CMS platform, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. The site is well-optimized for SEO and mobile devices, with appropriate meta tags and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, implements key security headers, and follows best practices for secure forms and content delivery. However, there is no explicit published security policy or incident response contact information, which could enhance transparency and trust. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to registry restrictions, but the site’s official government affiliation and consistent branding strongly indicate legitimacy. Overall, the VMM website presents a trustworthy and professional digital front for the Flemish environmental agency, with strong content quality and security posture. Strategic recommendations include publishing a formal security policy, adding incident response contacts, and considering a vulnerability disclosure policy to further strengthen security and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 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

4 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 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';…

  2. 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 vmm.be

This scan found 20 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
77
Security headers
15
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
95
Average
75

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

VMM holds a strong market position as a government entity responsible for environmental monitoring and policy implementation in Flanders. Its competitive advantage lies in its official mandate, extensive data resources, and partnerships with local and international stakeholders. The business model is public service-oriented, funded by the Flemish government, focusing on regulatory compliance, environmental data dissemination, and support services. The target customers include citizens, businesses requiring permits or subsidies, and local governments seeking environmental guidance. Growth indicators include active project portfolios and digital service expansion. The partnership ecosystem includes other government bodies and environmental organizations, enhancing operational reach and impact.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and secure form implementations. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. However, the absence of a publicly available security policy and incident response contacts represents a compliance gap. There is no evidence of a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file, which are best practices for transparency and community engagement. The site complies with GDPR through clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved with formalized policies and disclosure channels.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information, such as a security@ or abuse@ email address.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly review and audit third-party scripts and analytics tools for security and privacy compliance.
  5. Enhance performance optimization to improve loading times and user experience, especially on mobile devices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij
Description
De Vlaamse Milieumaatschappij (VMM) zet zich in om de leefomgeving in Vlaanderen klimaatbestendig te maken door duurzaam lucht-, water- en klimaatadaptatiebeleid. De organisatie werkt samen met lokale en internationale partners aan milieuprojecten en biedt diensten en producten aan burgers, bedrijven en lokale overheden.
Key services
Milieu-informatie en cijfers, Beleidsontwikkeling en regelgeving, Advies en ondersteuning, Projectuitvoering, Diensten voor vergunningen, subsidies en heffingen
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Plone 6, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
React, Plone CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Content Security Policy present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with proper labels and ARIA attributes

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics 4
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics 4
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official Flemish government environmental agency website
  2. Comprehensive environmental data and policy information
  3. Multiple service offerings for citizens, businesses, and local governments
  4. Modern web technologies with React and Plone CMS
  5. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  7. WHOIS data unavailable, possibly due to registry restrictions
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack combining React for frontend interactivity and Plone 6 as the CMS backend. This combination supports modular content management and dynamic user interfaces. The site uses standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. It includes accessibility features such as ARIA labels and skip links, improving usability for assistive technologies. SEO is well addressed with meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance is moderate, with preloading of critical CSS and JS assets, but could benefit from further optimization. Hosting details are not explicit, but the site uses HTTPS with strong SSL configuration. No legacy or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content.
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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