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Security report for cr.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 consumer audience seeking trustworthy buying advice and safety information. It maintains a strong market position as a leading independent consumer testing entity in the United States. The site offers membership and donation options, reinforcing its non-profit business model. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including JavaScript, SVG, and CSS with performance optimizations such as preloading and CDN usage. It integrates third-party marketing and analytics tools like Monetate and Adobe Site Catalyst, while maintaining good mobile responsiveness and accessibility standards. The site is well-structured with comprehensive metadata and structured data for SEO. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, uses multiple security headers, and secures user login forms. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. However, explicit security policies, incident response details, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly evident, representing areas for improvement. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and secure with excellent content quality and user experience. The absence of WHOIS data is a limitation but does not detract from the site's legitimacy given its strong brand and operational transparency. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies, establishing a vulnerability disclosure program, and enhancing transparency around data protection roles.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of cr.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 cr.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.

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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
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

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 operates as a large non-profit entity specializing in consumer product testing and advocacy. Its revenue streams include memberships, subscriptions, and donations. The organization targets general consumers who seek reliable product information and consumer rights advocacy. The website's extensive content and interactive tools indicate a mature digital presence. Partnerships with donation and advocacy platforms support its mission-driven model. The brand's consistent messaging and trust signals such as ad-free claims and social media presence reinforce its market credibility. Growth indicators include active membership management and frequent content updates.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and secure form handling. No immediate vulnerabilities or sensitive data exposures were identified. However, the lack of publicly available security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure channels suggests room for enhancement in transparency and readiness. Compliance with GDPR is indicated through privacy and cookie policies. The use of third-party marketing and analytics tools necessitates ongoing monitoring to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security maturity is high but could benefit from formalized disclosure and response documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Provide clear contact information for the Data Protection Officer or security team.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and marketing tools to reduce risk.
  5. Maintain accurate and complete WHOIS registration data to enhance trust.
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 ratings and reviews, Buying advice, Consumer advocacy, Research projects, Recall and safety alerts
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, SVG, CSS, HTML5, Monetate, Brightcove, Cloudinary
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

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
Site Catalyst (Adobe Analytics)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Monetate
Tracking pixels
Monetate
Marketing tools
Monetate
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 interactive features.
  2. Strong branding and consistent design throughout the site.
  3. Secure login and membership management present.
  4. Multiple social media and external links to reputable domains.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and performance optimizations.
  6. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  7. WHOIS data unavailable, but site legitimacy is supported by other trust indicators.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack with JavaScript modules, SVG graphics, and CSS optimizations. It leverages CDNs for asset delivery and integrates marketing and analytics platforms such as Monetate and Adobe Site Catalyst. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. Performance is enhanced through resource preloading and asynchronous script loading. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting details are not explicitly available but inferred to be robust given performance and security features. Technical risks are minimal but include dependency on third-party marketing scripts.
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
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