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Security report for forbes.com

Forbes · Media · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

82/100

Risk levelLow

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

Forbes is a globally recognized media company specializing in business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle content. The website serves a broad audience of business professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs, providing high-quality editorial content and insights. The brand is well-established with a strong market position and a comprehensive digital presence including multiple social media platforms. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies such as Bootstrap and custom fonts, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience across devices. Security-wise, Forbes maintains a robust posture with HTTPS enforcement and multiple security headers, although WHOIS data transparency is lacking due to unavailable or protected domain registration information. Overall, the site demonstrates professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations, making it a reliable source for business news and information.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. 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 forbes.com

This scan found 14 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.

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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
72
Security headers
70
Email security
87
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
82

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention forbes.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
9,018
Employees
3
Customers
8,908
Third parties
107
Weak passwords
12%

Latest record dated 2026-06-06 · 34 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for forbes.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –auth.forbes.com2026-06-06
  • –auth.forbes.com2026-06-01
  • er•••@forbes.comforbes.com2026-02-26

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Forbes operates as an essential entity in the media sector, leveraging a business model based on advertising and subscription revenues. Its competitive advantage lies in its brand recognition, quality content, and diversified coverage of business and lifestyle topics. The company targets a global audience of professionals and entrepreneurs, supported by a strong partnership ecosystem and active social media engagement. Forbes' digital strategy includes comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, reflecting adherence to regulatory requirements. The absence of WHOIS transparency is a minor concern but does not detract from the brand's credibility. The company is owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and continues to maintain a leadership position in business media.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and a suite of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analysis. However, the lack of a public vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file indicates room for improvement in transparency and incident response readiness. Privacy compliance is strong with clear policies and consent mechanisms. The site’s security score is high, reflecting good practices, but strategic enhancements in vulnerability disclosure and incident response communication are recommended to further strengthen security culture.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a formal vulnerability disclosure policy to encourage responsible reporting.
  2. Create and host a security.txt file to provide clear security contact information.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance visibility of incident response contacts and procedures on the website.
  5. Maintain continuous security monitoring and penetration testing to proactively identify risks.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Forbes
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Forbes
Description
Forbes is a global media company, focusing on business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership, and lifestyle.
Key services
Business news, Investing insights, Technology coverage, Entrepreneurship content, Leadership articles, Lifestyle features
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 3.3.7, Graphik font, Schnyder font, Highlander font, Swiper.js carousel
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers present
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Secure forms with proper input fields

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Medianet
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Social media platforms
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. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
  3. WHOIS data is unavailable or protected, limiting domain registration transparency.
  4. Strong social media presence with verified accounts.
  5. Comprehensive privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies present.
  6. Secure HTTPS with modern security headers implemented.
  7. Advertising and tracking practices are transparent and standard for media sites.
  8. No adult or explicit content detected; content is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

Forbes' website is built on a solid technical foundation using Bootstrap 3.3.7 and custom web fonts, ensuring consistent branding and responsive design. The use of Swiper.js for carousels enhances user engagement. Performance is moderate, with opportunities to optimize load times further. The site is well-structured with proper meta tags and SEO considerations, contributing to good search engine visibility. Accessibility features are implemented to a good standard, supporting diverse user needs. Hosting details are not explicitly identified, but the site uses HTTPS with excellent SSL configuration. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience but could benefit from modernization of some legacy components and enhanced performance tuning.
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. 82/100Low19 findingsView report
  2. 82/100 +3Low19 findingsView report
  3. 79/100Low19 findingsView report
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