Skip to main content

Security report for coloradosun.com

The Colorado Sun PBC · Media · United States

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

Security score

62/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Colorado Sun PBC operates as a reputable regional news media outlet focused on delivering comprehensive coverage of Colorado-related topics including climate, politics, water, housing, and business. The organization is positioned as a trusted source for local news with a donation-supported business model. Their digital presence is robust, leveraging WordPress with Newspack framework, enhanced SEO via Yoast, and integrations with Google Analytics and Tag Manager for performance insights. The site demonstrates excellent content quality, mobile optimization, and user experience, supported by a consistent brand identity and active social media engagement. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and standard security headers, though DNSSEC is not enabled and no explicit vulnerability disclosure policy is published. Privacy compliance is partial, with a comprehensive privacy policy but lacking a visible cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, suitable for its audience and business objectives.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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. 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';…

  2. 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

    • 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 coloradosun.com

This scan found 28 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. See sample alerts.

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
42
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
62

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

The Colorado Sun occupies a niche in the regional media market, focusing on in-depth, award-winning journalism for Colorado residents. Its competitive advantage lies in specialized coverage of critical local issues and a community-supported funding model. The business targets a general audience interested in state affairs, environmental issues, and politics. The company leverages partnerships with social media platforms and uses modern digital marketing and analytics tools to engage and grow its audience. Growth indicators include active content updates, mobile app availability, and diversified content formats such as podcasts and newsletters. The absence of a formal terms of service and vulnerability disclosure suggests areas for operational maturity improvement.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced, clientTransferProhibited domain status, and standard security headers implemented. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of DNSSEC and absence of a published vulnerability disclosure or incident response contact limits transparency and responsiveness to security incidents. Privacy compliance is adequate but could be enhanced by implementing a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the security measures align with industry best practices for media websites but have room for improvement in DNS security and incident handling.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Add explicit incident response contact information, such as a security@ or abuse@ email address.
  5. Consider publishing terms of service to clarify user rights and obligations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Colorado Sun PBC
Description
The Colorado Sun is an award-winning news outlet that covers all of Colorado — from water and climate to politics and business.
Key services
news reporting, climate coverage, politics coverage, water issues, housing news, events, podcast, mobile app
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO, Jetpack, Newspack, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Fundraise Up, WisePops, OneSignal, Google Fonts, MediaElement.js
Frameworks
Newspack
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • clientTransferProhibited domain status
  • no exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • secure forms with proper labels

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Parsely, Site Kit by Google
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google AdSense, DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Parsely, Fundraise Up, WisePops, Prism
Marketing tools
Site Kit by Google, Jetpack
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. The website is a professional news media outlet focused on Colorado.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and updated with recent news articles.
  3. Strong social media presence across multiple platforms.
  4. Uses modern web technologies and SEO best practices.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  6. No visible cookie consent banner despite tracking technologies.
  7. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and long-term domain ownership.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress using the Newspack theme and plugins, optimized for performance and SEO with Yoast and Google Site Kit. Media assets are hosted on Amazon S3, ensuring scalability and reliability. The site uses modern JavaScript libraries and asynchronous loading for third-party scripts, contributing to fast load times. Accessibility features and responsive design are well implemented, providing a good user experience across devices. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, with no significant technical debt or outdated components detected.
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. 63/100Medium35 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with coloradosun.com. 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 coloradosun.com.

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.