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Security report for floridahikes.com

Florida Hikes · Other · United States

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

67/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Florida Hikes is a specialized outdoor recreation website focused on providing comprehensive trail guides and resources for hiking, biking, paddling, and camping in Florida. Founded in 2005, it is managed by experienced outdoor authors Sandra Friend, John Keatley, and Chris Stevens. The site offers a rich database of trails, guidebooks, maps, and planning tools, targeting outdoor enthusiasts and families interested in exploring Florida's natural areas. The business model includes content provision, guidebook sales, and advertising revenue. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with a modern theme and plugins, leveraging lazy loading and third-party ad networks for monetization. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible with good SEO practices. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and domain transfer protection, though improvements are recommended in DNSSEC and security headers. Privacy compliance is basic with presence of privacy and terms pages but limited GDPR indicators. Overall, Florida Hikes presents a trustworthy, professional, and content-rich platform with moderate tracking and advertising. Strategic improvements in security and privacy policies would enhance its compliance and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

6 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 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"

  3. 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

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

Keep watching floridahikes.com

This scan found 25 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
72
Security headers
45
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
67

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

Florida Hikes occupies a niche market as a trusted resource for Florida outdoor recreation, leveraging long-term domain age and recognized authorship to maintain authority. Its competitive advantage lies in detailed, personally verified trail information and guidebooks. Revenue streams include advertising via Mediavine, affiliate sales of guidebooks, and partnerships with related outdoor travel sites. The target audience is broad, including families, hikers, bikers, and paddlers. The partnership ecosystem includes related domains like TrailsandTravel.com and Watula Press, enhancing content reach and credibility. Growth indicators include continuous content updates and expansion of trail databases. The business operates as a small entity with a focused content-driven model.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protection enabled. However, the absence of DNSSEC and several recommended security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options represent areas of vulnerability that could be exploited by attackers. No evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries was found. The site lacks a published security policy or incident response contacts, which limits transparency and preparedness for security incidents. Privacy compliance is minimal, with basic cookie consent mechanisms but no detailed GDPR compliance documentation. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the business type but could be strengthened to mitigate risks and improve user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy header to reduce cross-site scripting risks.
  3. Publish a security.txt file to provide clear vulnerability disclosure and incident response contacts.
  4. Enhance privacy and cookie policies to explicitly address GDPR and CCPA compliance.
  5. Add additional security headers such as X-Content-Type-Options and Referrer-Policy to improve browser security.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Florida Hikes
Description
Florida Hikes provides thousands of miles of trails for hiking, biking, paddling, camping, and more in Florida. The site is maintained by Florida outdoor experts Sandra Friend, John Keatley, and Chris Stevens, offering extensive trail databases and guidebooks.
Key services
Trail guides and databases, Outdoor activity information, Guidebook sales, Maps and planning resources
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Google Analytics, Mediavine Ads, Mai Engine theme and plugins, LazySizes (lazy loading images), ConsentManager (CMP for GDPR/CCPA)
Frameworks
Genesis Framework, Mai Engine
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of nonce for AJAX calls

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Mediavine, Google DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Mediavine tracking scripts, ConsentManager CMP
Marketing tools
ConsentManager, Grow.me
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established outdoor trail guide resource with extensive content.
  2. Uses WordPress CMS with modern plugins and lazy loading for performance.
  3. No WAF or blocking detected; content fully accessible.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies present but basic; GDPR compliance is minimal.
  5. Security headers partially implemented; DNSSEC missing.
  6. Advertising and tracking via Mediavine and Google Analytics present.
  7. Contact information includes physical mailing address and contact form but no direct emails or phone numbers publicly listed.
  8. Strong trust indicators from association memberships and professional guidebooks.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using the Genesis Framework and Mai Engine theme, supported by modern JavaScript libraries including jQuery and lazy loading via LazySizes. It integrates advertising through Mediavine and tracking with Google Analytics. The site uses a consent management platform (ConsentManager) for cookie consent. Performance is moderate with optimizations like image lazy loading and preconnect hints. Mobile optimization and accessibility are good, with responsive design and screen-reader friendly elements. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, though some security best practices such as DNSSEC and advanced security headers are missing. Hosting details are limited but the registrar is IONOS SE, a reputable provider. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly experience with room for security enhancements.
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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