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Security report for welt.de

WELT · Media · Germany

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

WELT is a leading German news media organization providing comprehensive news coverage, commentaries, live tickers, videos, and streams across various topics including politics, economy, finance, sports, culture, and travel. The website is professionally designed, highly accessible, and optimized for mobile devices, reflecting a mature digital presence. Technically, the site leverages modern JavaScript modules, asynchronous script loading, and a robust CDN infrastructure via Akamai, ensuring fast performance and scalability. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement and a strict Content Security Policy to block mixed content, contributing to a strong security posture. However, the absence of explicit privacy and terms of service pages, as well as limited visible contact information, indicates areas for improvement in privacy compliance and transparency. Overall, WELT demonstrates a high level of professionalism and trustworthiness as a major media outlet.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 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. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

  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
    • High

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 29 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 welt.de

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.

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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
52
Security headers
80
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
79

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 welt.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1,258
Employees
0
Customers
1,209
Third parties
49
Weak passwords
17%

25 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 welt.de.

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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

WELT operates as a major German media enterprise under the Axel Springer group, targeting a broad general audience interested in current affairs and multimedia news content. Its business model centers on digital content publishing, subscription services (WELTplus), and advertising revenue. The site integrates multiple advertising and tracking technologies, balancing monetization with user experience. The presence of verified social media channels and structured data enhances its market positioning and SEO. While the company maintains a strong brand and content quality, strategic enhancements in privacy policy visibility and user contact channels could further strengthen customer trust and regulatory compliance.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security foundation with HTTPS, Content Security Policy, and secure script loading practices. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. However, the lack of published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represents a gap in comprehensive security governance. The site uses standard advertising and tracking scripts, which should be regularly audited to mitigate privacy risks. Enhancing transparency around data protection officers and incident response would improve compliance with GDPR and related regulations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish clear and accessible privacy policy and terms of service pages linked prominently on the site.
  2. Provide explicit security policy and incident response information including dedicated contact channels.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  4. Enhance visibility of company contact information including emails and phone numbers for user support and security inquiries.
  5. Regularly review and audit third-party advertising and tracking scripts to ensure privacy compliance and minimize risk.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
WELT
Description
Nachrichten, Kommentare, Liveticker, Videos und Streams sowie News aus Politik, Wirtschaft, Finanzen, Wetter, Sport, Fußball, Kultur, Reise und Internet ...
Key services
News articles, Videos, Live streams, Commentaries, Liveticker, News apps
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript ES Modules, Custom ad management scripts, Consent management platform (CMP), JSON-LD structured data, Responsive design, Preload and async script loading
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Content Security Policy to block mixed content
  • Async and defer script loading
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
tiqcdn.com (Tealium IQ Tag Management)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
asadcdn.com, tiqcdn.com
Tracking pixels
ioam.de, tiqcdn.com
Marketing tools
Podigee (podcast hosting), Flourish Studio (data visualization)
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional German news media portal with extensive content and multimedia.
  2. Strong use of modern web technologies and performance optimizations.
  3. Good security posture with HTTPS and CSP headers.
  4. Lacks explicit privacy policy, terms of service, and security policy pages linked in the provided content.
  5. Consent mechanism for cookies is present but no explicit cookie policy page found.
  6. No visible contact emails or phone numbers in the provided HTML snippet.
  7. Social media links are present and verified via JSON-LD structured data.
  8. Advertising and tracking scripts are used but appear standard for media websites.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected.
  10. WHOIS data supports domain legitimacy and professional hosting.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with modern web technologies including ES modules, asynchronous JavaScript loading, and extensive use of JSON-LD structured data for SEO and social media integration. Hosting is managed via Akamai CDN, ensuring high availability and performance. The site is responsive and optimized for mobile devices, with accessibility features such as ARIA labels and keyboard navigation hints. Performance optimizations include preloading critical scripts and fonts. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience, though continuous monitoring and updates are recommended to maintain security and 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. 84/100Low23 findingsView report
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