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Security report for witten.de

Stadt Witten · Government · Germany

Partial score · DNS & email only

68/100

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

Stadt Witten operates as the official municipal government website for the city of Witten, Germany. It provides a broad range of public services, including administrative information, online citizen services, event calendars, and career opportunities. The site targets residents, local businesses, and visitors, positioning itself as a central hub for local governance and community engagement. The business model is that of a government entity focused on service delivery and public communication. Technically, the website employs a modern but straightforward technology stack with a focus on accessibility and user experience, including compliance with GDPR through cookie consent mechanisms and accessible design features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though there is room for improvement in publishing explicit security policies and incident response contacts. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and well-maintained, reflecting the standards expected of a municipal government portal.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 100 · High
Checks completed
6of 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.

    • 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. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 384-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching witten.de

This scan found 18 issues across 5 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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Recommended

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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
65
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
Average
68

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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

The website serves as a key communication and service platform for the city government of Witten, providing transparency and access to municipal services. Its market position is that of a local government authority with a stable user base comprising residents and local stakeholders. The site supports community engagement through event listings and public announcements, and it offers career and educational resources, indicating a focus on workforce development. Partnerships with local organizations such as Volkshochschule and Stadtmarketing Witten enhance its ecosystem. The absence of commercial advertising and tracking reflects a public service orientation. Growth indicators include active event promotion and digital service expansion. The site’s structured navigation and comprehensive content support effective citizen interaction.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, secure form inputs, and a cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR requirements. No security headers were explicitly detected in the provided data, suggesting an area for enhancement. There is no public security policy or incident response information, which could limit transparency in case of security events. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The site does not appear to use third-party tracking or advertising networks, reducing privacy risks. Overall, the security maturity is good for a government website but could benefit from formalized security documentation and additional HTTP security headers.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and compliance.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Implement and enforce HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Maintain and enhance accessibility and privacy compliance to uphold trust and legal requirements.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stadt Witten
Description
Official website of the city of Witten, providing municipal services, local government information, events, and citizen resources.
Key services
Municipal services and administration, Online citizen services, Event information, Job and career opportunities, Public announcements and local politics
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, EyeAble accessibility plugin, CookieDough cookie consent, Swiper.js slider
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with opt-in mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with required fields and input validation patterns

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

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 comprehensive and well-structured for a municipal government site.
  3. Good use of accessibility features including EyeAble plugin and ARIA labels.
  4. Cookie consent is implemented with clear user options.
  5. No evidence of tracking or advertising networks.
  6. Contact information is clearly presented and consistent.
  7. No security policy or incident response information publicly available.
  8. No terms of service page found.
  9. Social media presence is active with official city accounts.
  10. Technical stack is modern but minimalistic, focused on usability and accessibility.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom or niche CMS platform (nol-is) with JavaScript and CSS for frontend interactivity and styling. Accessibility is enhanced by the EyeAble plugin, and cookie consent is managed by CookieDough. The site is hosted with DomainControl nameservers, indicating a professional hosting arrangement. Performance is moderate with modern responsive design and mobile optimization. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). The site avoids heavy third-party scripts, which benefits load times and privacy. Technical risks are minimal, but the absence of some security headers and formal security documentation suggests opportunities for modernization and risk mitigation.
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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