Skip to main content

Security report for economistgroup.com

The Economist Newspaper Limited · Media · United Kingdom

Low risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

The Economist Group is a well-established global media and information-services company with a rich history dating back to 1843. It operates multiple brands including The Economist, Economist Impact, Economist Intelligence, and Economist Education, providing high-quality analysis, intelligence, and subscription services to a global audience. The company is positioned as a leader in its sector with a strong commitment to editorial independence and rigorous content standards. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies such as React and Next.js, integrates Google Analytics and Tag Manager for analytics, and implements GDPR-compliant consent management. The site is well-optimized for mobile and accessibility, with a professional design and clear navigation. Security-wise, the site uses HTTPS and has no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data, though it lacks explicit security headers and public security policies. Overall, the domain WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to registry restrictions, but the website's content and branding strongly support its legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing security policies, and improving transparency around incident response.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 100 · Low
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 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';…

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching economistgroup.com

This scan found 18 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
50
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
76

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 Economist Group operates in the media sector, targeting individuals and organizations interested in international business and world affairs. Its business model centers on subscription-based content, intelligence services, and events. The company enjoys a strong market position with a global reach and multiple subsidiary brands. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content and a clear brand identity. The absence of explicit contact emails or phone numbers on the site suggests a preference for controlled communication channels, likely via contact forms. The company maintains a strong reputation for editorial independence and quality, which is a key competitive advantage. No suspicious domains or partners were identified, indicating a focused and controlled ecosystem.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with enforced HTTPS and GDPR-compliant consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of common security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options is a gap that could be addressed to enhance protection against common web attacks. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response contact information, which could impact transparency and trust in security matters. The use of third-party analytics and consent management scripts is standard but requires ongoing monitoring to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved with additional headers and published policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and verify security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies for vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance transparency by providing vulnerability disclosure or security.txt information.
  5. Maintain and update GDPR compliance mechanisms and privacy policies to reflect evolving regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
The Economist Newspaper Limited
VAT number
GB 340 436 876
Registration number
No. 236383
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Economist Newspaper Limited
Description
The Economist Group is a global media and information-services company that exists to champion progress. Our brands are The Economist, Economist Impact, Economist Intelligence and Economist Education. We provide individuals and organisations with the expertise, insights and perspective to press forward.
Key services
Independent journalism, Information services, Subscription products, Global events, Business intelligence
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, YouTube iframe API, Consent Management Platform (CMP)
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Consent management for GDPR compliance
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

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 professional design
  2. Strong editorial independence and historical background presented
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent management implemented
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed in HTML; contact via contact page
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response contact found
  6. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected
  7. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools
  8. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern JavaScript frameworks, primarily React and Next.js, enabling server-side rendering and good performance. It integrates Google Analytics and Tag Manager for user behavior tracking and marketing analytics. The site uses a consent management platform to comply with GDPR and cookie regulations. The design is responsive and accessible, with good SEO metadata including Open Graph and Twitter Card tags. Hosting details are not explicitly identified, but the presence of AWS-hosted CMP scripts suggests cloud infrastructure usage. Performance is moderate, with deferred loading of scripts and preloading of critical CSS. There is no evidence of legacy or vulnerable libraries. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust and scalable digital presence.
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 economistgroup.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 economistgroup.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.