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Security report for espn.com

ESPN · Media · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

ESPN is a leading global sports media company providing live scores, sports news, video highlights, fantasy sports, and streaming services. Owned by The Walt Disney Company, ESPN commands a strong market position with a broad target audience of sports fans worldwide. The website reflects a mature digital presence with professional design, consistent branding, and comprehensive content offerings. Technically, ESPN employs modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks, prebid advertising, Google Publisher Tags, and robust consent management via OneTrust. The site is optimized for desktop and mobile platforms, delivering fast performance and good accessibility. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly found. Privacy compliance is well addressed through detailed policies linked to Disney's corporate privacy site and active cookie consent mechanisms. WHOIS data is unavailable likely due to registry privacy, but brand legitimacy is high given ESPN's corporate ownership. Overall, ESPN's website is professional, secure, and compliant, serving a large enterprise audience effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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

2 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

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

Keep watching espn.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.

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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
90
Security headers
30
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
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

ESPN operates as a major media entity specializing in sports content delivery through multiple channels including live streaming, news, and fantasy sports. Its business model relies on advertising revenue, subscription services, and partnerships within the sports ecosystem. The company benefits from strong brand recognition and a global audience. Strategic partnerships with Disney enhance its market reach and compliance capabilities. The website's integration of advanced advertising technologies and consent management reflects a sophisticated approach to monetization and regulatory adherence. ESPN's competitive advantage lies in exclusive content rights and a comprehensive digital platform catering to diverse sports fans. Growth indicators include continuous feature enhancements and geographic localization. The partnership ecosystem includes major advertising networks and privacy compliance providers, supporting sustainable operations.

Security posture

ESPN demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, modern security headers, and integration of consent management tools. The absence of exposed sensitive data and use of service workers indicate adherence to best practices. However, the lack of a publicly accessible security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. No known vulnerabilities or outdated libraries were detected in the provided content. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, reflecting strong data protection awareness. Recommendations include publishing explicit security policies, establishing vulnerability disclosure channels, and enhancing accessibility compliance. Overall, ESPN maintains a secure environment appropriate for a high-profile media enterprise, minimizing risk exposure while supporting user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and controls.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information for security issues.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file.
  4. Enhance accessibility features with ARIA landmarks and improved keyboard navigation.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and advertising technologies for security vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ESPN
Description
Visit ESPN for live scores, highlights and sports news. Stream exclusive games on ESPN and play fantasy sports.
Key services
live sports scores, sports news, video highlights, fantasy sports, streaming exclusive games
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Prebid.js (prebid8.26.0), Google Publisher Tags (GPT), OneTrust cookie consent, Adobe Access Enabler, Service Worker, JSON-LD structured data
Platforms
desktop, mobile
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Service Worker registered
  • Consent management via OneTrust
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
New Relic
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager (GPT), Prebid.js, Magnite (flagged false but mentioned)
Tracking pixels
New Relic, Google Tag Services
Marketing tools
OneTrust Consent Management, Adobe Access Enabler
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 no blocking detected.
  2. Strong brand presence with consistent and professional design.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies linked to parent company Disney.
  4. Use of modern advertising and analytics technologies with consent management.
  5. No direct contact information or security policy pages found on main site.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, likely due to registry privacy or protection.
  7. No adult or questionable content detected; content is family-friendly sports media.
Technical notes

Notes

The website leverages a modern technology stack including JavaScript frameworks, prebid advertising, Google Publisher Tags, and OneTrust for consent management. It uses service workers for offline capabilities and performance optimization. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and fast loading times. SEO is supported by proper meta tags, JSON-LD structured data, and Open Graph tags. No CMS was explicitly detected. Hosting appears robust with multiple CDN domains for content delivery. The technical implementation reflects a well-maintained, enterprise-grade infrastructure with opportunities to improve documentation and security transparency.
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. 75/100Medium27 findingsView report
  2. 75/100 +8Medium27 findingsView report
  3. 67/100Medium26 findingsView report
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