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Security report for afghanistanindustrytimes.com

Newsmatics Inc. dba Affinity Group Publishing & Afghanistan Industry Times · Media · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Afghanistan Industry Times is an online news publication operated by Newsmatics Inc. under the Affinity Group Publishing brand. The website focuses on delivering fresh news, press releases, and media content related to industries and services in Afghanistan. It targets a general audience interested in regional industry developments and provides multiple content formats including articles, videos, and email alerts. The business operates as a niche media outlet with a small but consistent market presence. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and frameworks like Turbo and StimulusJS. It integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics and uses a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations. The site is mobile-optimized and offers good navigation and user experience. Hosting details are not explicit but the domain is registered with GoDaddy and uses newsmatics.com nameservers. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements cookie consent but lacks advanced security headers and published security policies. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. WHOIS data is transparent and consistent with the business claims, indicating a legitimate domain registration. Privacy compliance is basic with standard policies present but no explicit GDPR compliance statements. Overall, the website presents a moderate risk profile with good business credibility and technical implementation but could improve security posture and privacy compliance. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing incident response contacts, enabling DNSSEC, and improving privacy transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 100 · Medium
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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  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 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • 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

  4. 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

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

Keep watching afghanistanindustrytimes.com

This scan found 23 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
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
68

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

Afghanistan Industry Times operates as a specialized media outlet focusing on Afghanistan's industrial and service sectors. Its business model centers on content publishing, press release distribution, and email alert subscriptions. The company leverages partnerships under the Affinity Group Publishing umbrella to extend reach. Market positioning is niche with a focus on regional news, which may limit scale but provides targeted audience engagement. Revenue streams likely include advertising and sponsored press releases. The presence of local media and journalist links suggests a networked content strategy. Growth indicators include recent domain registration and active content updates. The partnership ecosystem includes affinitygrouppublishing.com as a key related domain.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and cookie consent is implemented, indicating awareness of privacy and security norms. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces protection against common web attacks. No incident response or security policy information is published, which limits transparency and readiness perception. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The WHOIS data is clean and consistent, supporting domain legitimacy. Compliance with GDPR is basic but not explicitly confirmed. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a media site but could be significantly improved with standard best practices and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to enhance web security.
  2. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Enhance privacy compliance by explicitly stating GDPR adherence and detailing data retention policies.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Newsmatics Inc. dba Affinity Group Publishing & Afghanistan Industry Times
Description
Afghanistan Industry Times is an online news publication focusing on industries and services in Afghanistan, providing fresh news, press releases, and local media coverage.
Key services
News articles, Press releases, Email news alerts, Video content, Local media and journalist links
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Vanilla Cookie Consent
Frameworks
Turbo (Turbo-progress-bar), StimulusJS (data-controller attributes)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a niche news publication focused on Afghanistan industry and services.
  2. Content is fresh and regularly updated with press releases and news articles.
  3. Clear navigation and multiple ways to access content including search and email alerts.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and cookie consent mechanisms.
  5. No explicit security policies or incident response information published.
  6. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  7. WHOIS data is transparent and consistent with website claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and clean technical stack with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript frameworks such as Turbo and StimulusJS for interactivity and performance. Google Tag Manager is integrated for analytics and marketing purposes. The site is mobile-optimized and has good navigation clarity. Hosting details are not explicit but the domain is registered with GoDaddy and uses newsmatics.com nameservers, suggesting a managed hosting environment. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected. Accessibility features are basic but present. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured content. There is room for improvement in security headers and privacy transparency to reduce technical risks.
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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