Skip to main content

Security report for consumerreports.org

Consumer Reports · Non-profit · United States

Low risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Consumer Reports is a well-established non-profit organization focused on providing unbiased product reviews, ratings, and consumer advocacy. The website serves a broad audience of consumers seeking trustworthy buying advice and in-depth reporting on consumer issues. It operates a membership and subscription-based business model, leveraging digital platforms to deliver content and services. The brand is consistent and trusted, with a strong presence across social media and secure member login capabilities. Technically, the site uses modern web technologies including Brightcove for video streaming and Monetate for personalization, ensuring a good user experience with mobile optimization and accessibility. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and secure forms, though there is room to improve transparency around vulnerability disclosure and incident response. Overall, the site is professional, secure, and compliant with privacy regulations, making it a reliable resource for consumers.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of consumerreports.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

5 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 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. 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.

    • High

      No SPF record found

      SPF helps prevent email spoofing

      What to do: Add SPF record: "v=spf1 include:_spf.yourmailprovider.com ~all"

  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 consumerreports.org

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

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
82
Security headers
70
Email security
67
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
77

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 consumerreports.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
25,098
Employees
0
Customers
25,059
Third parties
39
Weak passwords
16%

26 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 consumerreports.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Consumer Reports holds a leading position in the consumer advocacy and product testing sector in the United States. Its competitive advantage lies in its independent, ad-free model and extensive product testing capabilities. Revenue streams primarily come from memberships and subscriptions. The target customer segment is general consumers who value unbiased product information. The organization maintains partnerships with various service domains for secure login, product data APIs, and e-commerce functionalities. Growth indicators include continuous content updates and digital platform enhancements. Strategic observations suggest maintaining strong privacy compliance and expanding transparency in security practices to further enhance trust.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented. Secure login forms and absence of exposed sensitive data indicate good security hygiene. However, the lack of publicly available incident response contacts or vulnerability disclosure policies represents a compliance gap. Data protection practices appear robust, with GDPR compliance evident in privacy and cookie policies. The security culture is implied to be strong given the organization's reputation, but explicit security certifications or frameworks are not disclosed. Overall, the risk is low but can be further mitigated by enhancing transparency and formalizing security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a formal vulnerability disclosure policy to encourage responsible reporting.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information for security issues.
  3. Consider obtaining and displaying security certifications such as ISO 27001.
  4. Enhance transparency around data retention and privacy compliance measures.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Consumer Reports
Description
Consumer Reports provides unbiased ratings and reviews for over 10,000 products and services, along with trusted advice and in-depth reporting on consumer issues.
Key services
Product testing and reviews, Consumer advocacy, Buying advice, Research and reporting on consumer issues
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Brightcove video player, JavaScript ES6 modules, CSS3, HTML5, Cloudinary for images, Monetate for personalization, SiteCatalyst (Adobe Analytics)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure login forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
SiteCatalyst (Adobe Analytics), Monetate
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Monetate
Tracking pixels
Monetate, SiteCatalyst (Adobe Analytics)
Marketing tools
Monetate, SiteCatalyst
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 no blocking or WAF challenge
  2. Content is rich, professional, and relevant to consumer advocacy
  3. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms
  4. Secure login and membership system present
  5. Use of modern web technologies and video streaming
  6. No suspicious or malicious content detected
  7. WHOIS data unavailable but website trustworthiness is high
Technical notes

Notes

The website infrastructure is modern and well-maintained, utilizing advanced video streaming technology (Brightcove), personalization tools (Monetate), and analytics (SiteCatalyst). The use of ES6 modules and CSS3 indicates up-to-date front-end development practices. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting details are not explicitly available but the use of multiple subdomains and CDN services indicates a distributed and scalable architecture. Technical risks are minimal but continuous monitoring of third-party dependencies is recommended to avoid vulnerabilities.
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. 76/100Low25 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with consumerreports.org. 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 consumerreports.org.

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.