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Security report for accuweather.com

AccuWeather · Media · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

AccuWeather is a leading global weather forecasting company providing local, national, and international weather information through its website and mobile applications. The company leverages advanced forecasting technology to deliver accurate and timely weather reports to a broad audience including consumers and businesses. Their market position is strong, supported by a well-established brand and extensive service offerings including weather alerts, news, and multimedia content. Technically, the website demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure with modern web technologies such as Google Fonts, Prebid.js for advertising, Google Publisher Tags, and Parsely for analytics. The site is optimized for performance and mobile responsiveness, ensuring a high-quality user experience. The use of advanced performance APIs and beacon technology indicates a focus on efficient data collection and user interaction tracking. From a security perspective, AccuWeather employs HTTPS with strong SSL configurations and multiple security headers, reflecting good security hygiene. While no critical vulnerabilities were detected, the absence of a public security.txt and incident response contact information suggests areas for improvement in transparency and vulnerability management. Privacy compliance is robust, with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR requirements. Overall, AccuWeather presents a low-risk profile with high trustworthiness and professionalism. The lack of WHOIS data is likely due to privacy protection and does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security transparency, publishing incident response details, and continuous monitoring of third-party scripts to maintain security posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of accuweather.com. View the latest report

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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. 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 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';…

  3. 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

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching accuweather.com

This scan found 14 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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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
0
Security headers
40
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
66

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

AccuWeather operates in the media sector, specializing in weather forecasting and related content delivery. Its business model is primarily advertising-supported, supplemented by mobile app offerings. The company targets a broad audience including general consumers, weather enthusiasts, and commercial clients requiring weather data. AccuWeather's competitive advantage lies in its brand recognition, accuracy of forecasts, and comprehensive service portfolio. The company maintains partnerships with major ad networks and analytics providers, enabling monetization and audience insights. Growth indicators include extensive use of advanced ad technologies and analytics, suggesting a data-driven approach to market expansion and user engagement.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and secure data transmission practices. No exposed sensitive information or vulnerable libraries were identified. However, the absence of publicly available incident response contacts and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms indicates a gap in security transparency. Compliance with GDPR and cookie consent regulations is evident, reflecting attention to privacy requirements. The integration of multiple third-party scripts necessitates ongoing security audits to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security maturity is high but could benefit from enhanced disclosure and incident management readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting and improve transparency.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to minimize security risks.
  4. Enhance user trust by displaying security certifications or compliance badges.
  5. Implement multi-factor authentication for administrative access to reduce risk of compromise.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
AccuWeather, Inc.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
AccuWeather
Description
AccuWeather provides local and international weather forecasts using advanced weather forecasting technology with up-to-the-minute weather reports.
Key services
Local weather forecasts, National and global weather forecasts, Weather alerts and notifications, Weather-related news and videos, Mobile weather applications
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Fonts, Google Adsense, Google Publisher Tags (GPT), Prebid.js, Parsely, JavaScript ES6+, HTML5, CSS3, MapLibre, Performance API, Beacon API
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Content Security Policy
  • Use of secure cookies
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of navigator.sendBeacon for analytics

Analytics and tracking

Services
Parsely, Google Analytics (implied via gtag), Gamera
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense, Google Ad Manager, AppNexus, Rubicon, TripleLift, PubMatic, Grid, Yahoo SSP, Index Exchange, OpenX, The Trade Desk
Tracking pixels
Parsely, LiveIntent, Gamera
Marketing tools
Parsely, LiveIntent, Gamera
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and advanced advertising integration.
  2. Strong use of modern web technologies and performance optimizations.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. No signs of malicious or adult content.
  5. WHOIS data unavailable but website brand and content indicate legitimacy.
  6. Extensive use of third-party ad networks and tracking services.
  7. Good SEO and accessibility practices observed.
Technical notes

Notes

AccuWeather's technical infrastructure is robust, utilizing modern web standards and technologies. The site employs Google Fonts for typography, Prebid.js and Google Publisher Tags for programmatic advertising, and Parsely for content analytics. Performance optimizations include lazy loading of ads, use of the Beacon API for efficient data transmission, and responsive design for mobile devices. The site demonstrates good SEO practices with appropriate meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD) for organization. Accessibility features are present but could be further enhanced. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but the use of major CDNs and ad networks suggests a scalable and reliable hosting environment. Overall, the technical implementation supports a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience.
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. 66/100Medium22 findingsView report
  2. 71/100Medium16 findings · partial scanView report
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