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Security report for documented.net

Documented · Media · N/a

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Documented.net is a small, focused investigative journalism and watchdog media project dedicated to exposing threats to democracy and holding powerful interests accountable. The website demonstrates a professional and consistent brand presence with quality content and partnerships with reputable media organizations such as The Guardian and ProPublica. The technical infrastructure leverages modern web technologies including Cloudflare DNS, Imgix for image optimization, and Adobe Document Cloud SDK for document viewing, hosted likely behind Cloudflare services. The site is mobile optimized and SEO friendly, though accessibility features are basic. Security posture is good with HTTPS enforced and domain registration locked, but lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the site is trustworthy and credible but would benefit from enhanced privacy disclosures and security best practices.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  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 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';…

  3. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching documented.net

This scan found 22 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

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  • 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
75
Security headers
50
Email security
40
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
63

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 business operates as a non-profit media entity targeting audiences interested in investigative journalism and democracy issues. Revenue streams appear to include donations (via BuyMeACoffee) and partnerships with other media outlets. The site actively recruits talent and encourages community engagement through newsletter subscriptions and leak submissions. The partnership ecosystem includes major media brands, enhancing credibility and reach. The business model is content-driven with a focus on transparency and accountability journalism.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and domain registration protections but lacks DNSSEC and visible security headers such as CSP or HSTS. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are provided, indicating room for improvement in security transparency. Forms are standard with no obvious insecure elements. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries detected. Overall security maturity is moderate but could be enhanced with additional controls and disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and trust.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve security transparency.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience for all users.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Documented
Description
Documented is an investigative watchdog and journalism project committed to holding the powerful interests that undermine our democracy accountable.
Key services
Investigative reporting, Watchdog journalism, Research dissemination, Newsletter subscription
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Cloudflare DNS, Adobe Document Cloud View SDK, Imgix for image optimization, Custom fonts loaded via FontFace API
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by canonical URL and no mixed content)
  • Domain locked with clientDeleteProhibited and other EPP statuses

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional investigative journalism platform focused on democracy and influence.
  2. Content is rich with recent articles and partnerships with reputable media.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found on homepage or main navigation.
  4. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
  5. Uses modern web technologies and image optimization services.
  6. Social media presence is strong with official accounts linked.
  7. No phone numbers or physical addresses found.
  8. Newsletter subscription form collects email addresses with standard validation.
  9. No signs of WAF blocking or security challenges.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack with optimized fonts, image delivery via Imgix, and Adobe Document Cloud SDK integration. The CMS appears to be Craft CMS, inferred from form attributes and asset paths. Hosting is likely via Cloudflare with DNS and CDN services. Performance is moderate with lazy loading images and responsive design. Some technical debt is noted in missing security headers and lack of DNSSEC. The site is well-structured with good SEO metadata and social media integration.
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

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