Perimetry Research · Comparison · November 2026
France and Germany: whose local authorities protect their domains better?
Our study of the French local authorities (1,372 graded) and our study of the German Landkreise, kreisfreie Städte and Länder (387 graded) share nine passive checks. Here they are side by side, overall and level by level. The French study counts a tenth check (a contact address on the authority’s own domain) that the German lists cannot give: the comparison leaves it out.
- 41.1% / 32.8%
- enforce DMARC, Germany / France
- 15% / 25.9%
- sign their domain with DNSSEC, Germany / France
- 74.3% / 38.8%
- use HSTS, Germany / France
- 96.4% / 98.7%
- valid certificate, Germany / France
What the figures say
E-mail: 41.1% of the German authorities enforce DMARC, 32.8% of the French. Where it is not enforced, an e-mail forged in the authority’s name is generally delivered.
DNSSEC: 15% in Germany, 25.9% in France; CAA: 12.4% and 2.6%.
Websites: valid certificates (96.4% / 98.7%), HTTP sent to HTTPS (92% / 90.9%), HSTS (74.3% / 38.8%), protective headers (68.6% / 40.7%).
Check by check
Share of the graded authorities that pass each check, among those it applies to.
| Check | Germany | France | Difference (points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valid HTTPS certificate | 96.4% | 98.7% | -2.3 |
| HTTP sends visitors to HTTPS | 92% | 90.9% | +1.1 |
| HSTS for six months or more | 74.3% | 38.8% | +35.5 |
| Basic protective headers | 68.6% | 40.7% | +27.9 |
| DNSSEC | 15% | 25.9% | -10.9 |
| CAA record | 12.4% | 2.6% | +9.8 |
| Strict SPF | 88.6% | 97.1% | -8.5 |
| DMARC record | 73.6% | 77.8% | -4.2 |
| DMARC enforced | 41.1% | 32.8% | +8.3 |
Level by level
The closest equivalents: départements and Landkreise, métropoles and kreisfreie Städte, regions and Länder. Groups with fewer than ten graded authorities show no figures.
| Level | Graded | Valid HTTPS certificate | HTTP sends visitors to HTTPS | HSTS for six months or more | Basic protective headers | DNSSEC | CAA record | Strict SPF | DMARC record | DMARC enforced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landkreise (Germany) | 274 | 94.9% | 91.2% | 77.6% | 70.3% | 13.5% | 11.3% | 87.2% | 70.8% | 40.1% |
| Départements (France) | 93 | 98.9% | 90.8% | 43.7% | 58.6% | 18.3% | 7.5% | 98.9% | 92.5% | 44.1% |
| Kreisfreie Städte (Germany) | 100 | 100% | 94% | 64.8% | 62.6% | 16% | 13% | 91% | 79% | 44% |
| Métropoles (metropolitan areas) (France) | 21 | 100% | 95.2% | 61.9% | 66.7% | 9.5% | 19% | 100% | 100% | 38.1% |
| Länder (Germany) | 13 | 100% | 92.3% | 75% | 75% | 38.5% | 30.8% | 100% | 92.3% | 38.5% |
| Régions (regions) (France) | 14 | 100% | 85.7% | 71.4% | 78.6% | 14.3% | 35.7% | 92.9% | 100% | 57.1% |
How we compared
Both studies use the same robot, the same passive checks and the same thresholds, on the authorities’ own domains: the home page of each site and public DNS records, nothing else. The French list comes from the official directory of the administration (Service-Public.fr) and the State’s geographic API, the German one from Wikidata (official key AGS and official website).
The German local authorities study The French local authorities study