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Security report for bbc.com

BBC News · Media · United Kingdom

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

BBC.com is the official digital presence of the British Broadcasting Corporation, a globally recognized public service broadcaster. The website offers comprehensive news coverage across multiple sectors including world news, sports, business, culture, and innovation, targeting a broad general audience. It maintains a strong market position as a trusted news source with extensive multimedia content including video and audio. The business model is centered on content delivery and public service broadcasting, supported by advertising and partnerships.

Scanned

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

3 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 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. 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

  3. 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 bbc.com

This scan found 15 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

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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
82
Security headers
55
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
83

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention bbc.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
366,291
Employees
20
Customers
365,858
Third parties
413
Weak passwords
5%

Latest record dated 2026-03-20 · 180 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for bbc.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –account.bbc.com2026-03-20
  • –account.bbc.com2026-03-01
  • –account.bbc.com2025-11-13
  • –account.bbc.com2025-09-19
  • –account.bbc.com2025-09-02

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The BBC operates as an enterprise-scale media organization with a well-established brand and a large global audience. Its digital platform leverages advanced technologies for content delivery, advertising, and analytics. The company benefits from a strong partnership ecosystem and maintains high standards of content quality and trustworthiness. The absence of direct contact information on the homepage aligns with its public broadcaster status, focusing on content rather than direct sales or customer service.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement, comprehensive security headers, and no exposed sensitive data. It employs modern consent management for cookies and privacy compliance aligned with GDPR. The use of multiple third-party advertising and analytics services is managed with transparency and consent. However, the absence of a visible security policy or incident response contact suggests room for improvement in security communication and vulnerability disclosure.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publicize a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  2. Enhance visibility of incident response and security contact information.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts to mitigate supply chain risks.
  4. Maintain up-to-date privacy and cookie consent mechanisms in line with evolving regulations.
  5. Consider publishing certifications or compliance attestations to strengthen trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
BBC News
Description
Visit BBC for trusted reporting on the latest world and US news, sports, business, climate, innovation, culture and much more.
Key services
News reporting, Sports coverage, Business news, Innovation and technology news, Cultural content, Travel and lifestyle content, Audio and video streaming
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, RequireJS, Optimizely, Google Publisher Tags (GPT), Tinypass (Piano), DoubleVerify, Comscore, PerimeterX, Covatic, Nielsen, Ozone, Permutive, Google Analytics, Privacy Management SDK
Frameworks
Next.js, React
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CSP headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts
  • Consent management for cookies

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Comscore, Nielsen, Permutive
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager, The Ozone Project, DoubleVerify, Comscore, Nielsen, Permutive
Tracking pixels
Comscore, DoubleVerify, Nielsen, Permutive
Marketing tools
Optimizely, Piano (Tinypass)
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 multimedia.
  2. Strong branding consistent with BBC standards.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. Use of advanced advertising and analytics technologies with transparency.
  5. No security or content blocking detected.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable but domain is highly reputable.
  7. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on homepage.
  8. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page.
Technical notes

Notes

BBC.com uses a modern technology stack including React and Next.js frameworks, supported by RequireJS and Optimizely for optimization and experimentation. Advertising and analytics are integrated via Google Ad Manager, Comscore, Nielsen, and others. The site is well optimized for performance, mobile responsiveness, and accessibility. The technical infrastructure supports fast content delivery and rich multimedia experiences, reflecting a high level of digital maturity. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but likely leverage robust enterprise-grade infrastructure.
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. 82/100 −2Low24 findingsView report
  2. 84/100Low23 findingsView report
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