Skip to main content

Security report for businesspost.ie

Business Post · Media · Ireland

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Business Post is a professional Irish news media company specializing in independent journalism focused on business, finance, politics, and technology. The website serves a broad audience interested in Irish and global business news, offering subscription services alongside advertising revenue. The company maintains a strong market position as a reputable independent news source in Ireland. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools, including Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and Piano Analytics, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized and SEO-friendly, with good performance and accessibility features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers present, though there is room for improvement in publishing security policies and incident response information. Privacy compliance is partially addressed with a cookie consent mechanism but lacks a clearly accessible privacy policy page. Overall, the site is trustworthy and professional but would benefit from enhanced transparency and contact information to improve user trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
60/ 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. GDPR outside view

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

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • 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

  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 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. 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 businesspost.ie

This scan found 20 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

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
57
Security headers
55
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
60
Average
70

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

Business Post operates in the media sector with a focus on business and financial news. Its business model combines subscription-based access with advertising revenue, leveraging digital platforms for content delivery. The company targets business professionals, investors, and general news readers in Ireland and internationally. The presence of podcasts, events, and newsletters suggests diversified content offerings and engagement strategies. The website links to partner domains related to benefits, e-reader services, and events, indicating a broader ecosystem. The lack of visible company registration or VAT information on the site limits full business transparency. The use of advanced analytics and marketing tools reflects a data-driven approach to audience engagement and monetization.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security posture with HTTPS enabled and multiple security headers implemented, reducing common web vulnerabilities. The use of modern libraries and frameworks reduces the risk of outdated components. However, the absence of a public security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represents gaps in security transparency and readiness. No exposed sensitive data or obvious vulnerabilities were detected in the HTML content. The cookie consent mechanism aligns with GDPR requirements but could be enhanced with clearer privacy documentation. Overall, the site is secure but could improve in compliance and incident management visibility.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy page accessible from the homepage.
  2. Add a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information.
  3. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to meet WCAG standards.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking technologies for security and privacy compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Business Post
Description
The Business Post is the home of quality independent journalism. An Irish and global news service, with award-winning comment and analysis.
Key services
News publishing, Subscription services, Advertising, Podcasts, Events
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.1, Yoast SEO Premium, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, Chart.js, Alpine.js, jQuery, Google Publisher Tags (GPT), Piano Analytics, Cookielaw.org CMP
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern JavaScript libraries
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Piano Analytics, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google AdSense, Google Ad Manager, DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Piano Analytics, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Marketing tools
Piano Analytics
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional news media outlet focused on business and finance.
  2. Uses modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the HTML content.
  4. Privacy policy page not explicitly found but cookie consent is implemented.
  5. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
  6. No signs of adult or inappropriate content.
  7. WHOIS data is missing or not publicly available, limiting domain trust verification.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.1 with Yoast SEO Premium plugin, indicating a modern CMS environment optimized for search engines. It uses Alpine.js for reactive UI components, Chart.js for data visualization, and integrates multiple analytics and advertising scripts including Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and Piano Analytics. The site loads asynchronously many scripts to improve performance and uses responsive design techniques for mobile optimization. DNS prefetching and CDN usage (jsdelivr, unpkg) enhance loading speed. The site employs Google Publisher Tags for ad management. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust and well-architected for a news media platform, though performance could be further optimized by minimizing third-party script load and improving accessibility compliance.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with businesspost.ie. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review businesspost.ie.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.