WebForensik

A Content Security Policy (CSP) is a doorkeeper rule for the browser: "Scripts and styles may only be loaded from these allowed sources." Without CSP, injected malicious code (XSS) can freely fetch anything. Start with a simple, secure baseline.

Apache server (classic hosting at most providers)

File: .htaccess in the web root

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data: https:; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; font-src 'self' https: data:; object-src 'none'; frame-ancestors 'self'; base-uri 'self'"
</IfModule>

⚠ This policy is intentionally pragmatic (allows inline styles since many themes/plugins rely on them). If something breaks after enabling: F12 → Console shows "Refused to load…" — add the affected domain after script-src / img-src.

# BEGIN WebForensik CSP
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data: https:; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; font-src 'self' https: data:; object-src 'none'; frame-ancestors 'self'; base-uri 'self'"
</IfModule>
# END WebForensik CSP

add_action('send_headers', function () {
    header("Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; img-src 'self' data: https:; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; font-src 'self' https: data:; object-src 'none'; frame-ancestors 'self'; base-uri 'self'");
});

✓ How to verify it works: Open page, F12 → Console — no red "Refused to load…" messages. Network tab → first request → Response Header "content-security-policy" visible.

Without a Referrer-Policy the browser sends the full URL of your current page (incl. search terms, usernames in URL params) on every click to the destination site. Privacy-relevant per Art. 5 GDPR. Recommended safe setting: strict-origin-when-cross-origin.

Apache server (classic hosting at most providers)

File: .htaccess in the web root

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"
</IfModule>

⚠ "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" is the modern standard: on cross-domain clicks only your origin (no path/params) is sent — internal clicks include the full URL. Stricter is "no-referrer" (send nothing) but it breaks some analytics tools.

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin"
</IfModule>

add_action('send_headers', function () {
    header('Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin');
});

✓ How to verify it works: F12 → Network → first request → Response Headers — "referrer-policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin" must be present.

Without clickjacking protection your site can be invisibly embedded into a malicious page ("enter your password here" — the click actually lands on your overlayed login form). Fix: set SAMEORIGIN (only your own domain may embed).

Apache server (classic hosting at most providers)

File: .htaccess in the web root

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"
    Header always set Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors 'self'"
</IfModule>

⚠ Use both headers: X-Frame-Options for older browsers, frame-ancestors for modern ones. If you already have a CSP, add "frame-ancestors 'self'" there — don’t duplicate.

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set X-Frame-Options "SAMEORIGIN"
</IfModule>

add_action('send_headers', function () {
    header('X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN');
});

✓ How to verify it works: F12 → Network → Response Header: "x-frame-options: SAMEORIGIN".

Permissions-Policy controls whether scripts (including third-party) may access camera, microphone, location, motion sensors etc. GDPR-relevant because sensitive device APIs can otherwise be reached unnoticed.

Apache server (classic hosting at most providers)

File: .htaccess in the web root

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Permissions-Policy "camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=(), payment=(), usb=(), accelerometer=(), gyroscope=(), magnetometer=(), interest-cohort=()"
</IfModule>

⚠ "()" at the end means: no caller (not even your own page) may use this API. If you need geolocation (e.g. a map feature): use geolocation=(self) instead of geolocation=(). "interest-cohort=()" disables Google’s FLoC tracking.

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always set Permissions-Policy "camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=(), payment=(), usb=(), interest-cohort=()"
</IfModule>

add_action('send_headers', function () {
    header('Permissions-Policy: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=(), payment=(), usb=(), interest-cohort=()');
});

✓ How to verify it works: F12 → Network → Response Header: "permissions-policy" visible.

Cookies without the "HttpOnly" flag can be read by JavaScript — an XSS attacker can steal session cookies and impersonate the logged-in user. Set HttpOnly for all cookies JavaScript doesn’t actively need.

Apache server (classic hosting at most providers)

File: .htaccess in the web root

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header always edit Set-Cookie "^(.*)$" "$1; HttpOnly" "expr=!(resp('Set-Cookie') -strmatch '*HttpOnly*')"
</IfModule>

⚠ Cleaner: set cookies with HttpOnly directly (PHP: setcookie(..., [..., 'httponly'=>true])). Exception: cookies that JS actively reads (e.g. some consent cookies).

@ini_set('session.cookie_httponly', '1');
@ini_set('session.cookie_secure', '1');

✓ How to verify it works: F12 → Application → Cookies → "HttpOnly" column shows checkmarks everywhere (except for deliberately JS-readable cookies like the consent cookie).

GDPR-relevant: visitor data (at least IP + User-Agent) is transmitted to servers outside the EU/EEA. Since the Schrems-II ruling (2020) this requires Standard Contractual Clauses + supplementary technical measures AND prior consent. Best fix: replace with EU alternatives where possible.

✓ How to verify it works: Load in incognito mode, F12 → Network → list all requests → check "Domain" column for non-EU servers. After migration no unrequested US domains should load.

Trackers (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, …) capture visitors and follow them across multiple sites. Under GDPR Art. 6 and ePrivacy / national implementations, explicit consent is required BEFORE loading the tracker. "Continued scrolling = consent" is NOT acceptable.

✓ How to verify it works: Incognito, load page — BEFORE "Accept": F12 → Network → no requests to google-analytics.com, facebook.com/tr etc. AFTER "Accept", yes.

Only some of your external resources (0 of 11) are protected by SRI. Add integrity attributes to the remaining ones too.

✓ How to verify it works: F12 → Console on page load: no "Failed to find a valid digest" messages. Source: all external <script>/<link> have an integrity attribute.

SRI (Subresource Integrity) is a checksum in HTML that defines what an externally loaded file MUST look like. If someone tampers with the external file (e.g. a CDN gets compromised), the browser refuses to load it. You add the "integrity" attribute on the script/link tag.

✓ How to verify it works: F12 → Network → requests with status 200 from CDN domains (cdn.jsdelivr.net, cdnjs.cloudflare.com etc.) → in HTML source the tag must contain "integrity=\"sha384-…\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"".

Your trackers are loaded BEFORE the user can consent ("pre-consent loading"). Common misconfiguration in cookie plugins — banner appears, but too late: the GA script is already running. Violates ePrivacy.

✓ How to verify it works: Incognito → F12 → Network (clear all, start recording) → load page, do NOT click banner, wait 10 seconds → there must be NO requests to google-analytics.com, googletagmanager.com, facebook.com/tr, doubleclick.net etc.

No imprint (legal notice) found — mandatory in Germany under § 5 DDG for all business-grade websites (and effectively for many other commercial sites in the EU). Even private blogs with ad or affiliate revenue typically require one. Violations are commonly targeted by warning letters.

✓ How to verify it works: Footer on every page → link "Imprint" or "Legal notice" visible → opens the imprint page with all mandatory information.