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Security report for adfontesmedia.com

Ad Fontes Media · Media · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

67/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Ad Fontes Media is a specialized media analysis company known for its Media Bias Chart®, which rates news sources for bias and reliability. The company operates primarily in the media sector, targeting general audiences, educators, advertisers, and publishers. Their business model revolves around subscription-based data services and media ratings, positioning them as a niche player with recognized authority in media bias analysis. Technically, the website is built on a modern WordPress platform using Elementor and WooCommerce, hosted by DreamHost, and integrates marketing and analytics tools such as HubSpot, Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixel. The site demonstrates good SEO and mobile optimization, with structured data enhancing search visibility. Security-wise, the site uses HTTPS with a good SSL configuration and domain transfer protection, but lacks DNSSEC and some security headers, which are recommended for enhanced protection. Privacy compliance is strong, with visible cookie consent and a comprehensive privacy policy. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with no signs of malicious activity or adult content.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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. 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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';…

  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

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-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

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

Keep watching adfontesmedia.com

This scan found 18 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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Full report

€39.90one-time

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Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
50
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
88
Average
67

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

Ad Fontes Media holds a unique market position as a trusted source for media bias ratings, leveraging its proprietary Media Bias Chart®. Its revenue streams include subscriptions and services tailored to advertisers, publishers, educators, and individuals. The company maintains a consistent brand presence and engages users through social media channels and interactive web tools. The business is relatively young, founded in 2017, and operates as a small entity focused on media and education sectors. The partnership ecosystem includes integrations with marketing platforms like HubSpot and Mailchimp, supporting customer engagement and data collection. The company’s transparent domain registration and active website maintenance indicate operational stability and credibility.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate to good security posture. HTTPS is enforced, and the domain status clientTransferProhibited prevents unauthorized transfers. However, the absence of DNSSEC and some recommended security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, etc.) represents areas for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content. The use of third-party marketing and analytics scripts introduces a moderate level of user tracking, which is managed with a cookie consent mechanism compliant with GDPR. The lack of a publicly available security policy or incident response plan suggests room to enhance transparency and preparedness. Overall, the site is secure for its business scope but would benefit from implementing additional security best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and verify security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response plan to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress core, themes, and plugins to minimize vulnerability exposure.
  5. Continue to maintain and improve privacy compliance, including clear data retention policies and user rights information.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ad Fontes Media
Description
Ad Fontes Media is the home of the Media Bias Chart®. We rate the news and news-like sources for bias and reliability.
Key services
Media Bias Chart ratings, Interactive and static media bias charts, Subscription data services for advertisers, publishers, educators, individuals
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, Kadence Theme, HubSpot scripts, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Mailchimp
Frameworks
WooCommerce, Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Use of security plugins (implied by WordPress ecosystem)

Analytics and tracking

Services
HubSpot Analytics, Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
HubSpot, Mailchimp
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses modern WordPress ecosystem with Elementor and WooCommerce.
  2. Strong use of structured data and SEO best practices.
  3. Good privacy and cookie compliance with visible consent mechanism.
  4. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response information publicly available.
  6. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security gap.
  7. Multiple external marketing and analytics scripts loaded, indicating moderate user tracking.
  8. Domain WHOIS data is consistent and trustworthy.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress with Elementor and WooCommerce, indicating a flexible and widely supported CMS platform. Hosting is provided by DreamHost, a reputable provider. The site uses modern front-end technologies and integrates multiple marketing and analytics tools, including HubSpot, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and Mailchimp. Performance is moderate, with good mobile optimization and SEO practices such as structured data (JSON-LD) and meta tags. Accessibility features are basic but present. The site uses preconnect and preload hints to optimize resource loading. Technical debt appears low, but the site could benefit from enhanced security headers and DNSSEC. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business needs effectively with room for security hardening.
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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