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Security report for freep.com

Detroit Free Press · Media · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Detroit Free Press is a well-established regional news media organization serving Detroit and Michigan, operating under the umbrella of Gannett Co., Inc. The website provides comprehensive news coverage including local news, sports, business, and entertainment. It targets residents and news consumers interested in regional and national news. The business model is primarily advertising-supported with subscription options, leveraging a strong affiliation with the USA TODAY Network to maintain market leadership in the region. The site demonstrates consistent branding and good content quality, supporting a large audience with professional digital news services. Technically, the website employs a modern technology stack including Polymer web components, extensive use of JavaScript libraries, and integration with multiple advertising and analytics platforms such as Google Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, and various ad networks. The site is hosted on Gannett's CDN infrastructure, optimized for mobile and desktop with good SEO and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with room for improvement in loading speed. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, uses strong security headers, and implements cookie consent management compliant with GDPR. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the site lacks a publicly available security policy or incident response contact, and no vulnerability disclosure program is evident. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced with formalized policies and transparency. The domain eu.freep.com is a subdomain of freep.com, which is a legitimate and trusted domain owned by Gannett. WHOIS data for the subdomain is not available, which is typical for subdomains. No WAF or blocking mechanisms were detected, and the site content is fully accessible. The site integrates multiple third-party advertising and tracking services with user consent, balancing monetization and privacy compliance effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
70/ 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

4 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

  2. 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

  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

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

Keep watching freep.com

This scan found 20 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

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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
62
Security headers
40
Email security
90
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
70
Average
74

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

Detroit Free Press holds a strong market position as a leading regional news provider in Detroit and Michigan, leveraging its affiliation with the USA TODAY Network and parent company Gannett. The business model focuses on digital advertising revenue supplemented by subscription services. The target audience includes local residents and news consumers seeking timely and relevant news content. The company benefits from a broad partnership ecosystem including advertising networks and content syndication partners. Growth indicators include adoption of modern web technologies and compliance with privacy regulations. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining trust through privacy compliance and content quality to sustain competitive advantage in the digital news market.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and GDPR-compliant cookie consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were identified in the HTML content. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response contact information, and vulnerability disclosure program indicates areas for improvement in transparency and incident readiness. The extensive use of third-party scripts and advertising networks necessitates ongoing security audits to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security culture appears proactive but would benefit from formalized documentation and public communication of security practices.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information, including abuse and security email addresses.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and advertising integrations to minimize security risks.
  5. Enhance security headers with Subresource Integrity (SRI) and consider additional HTTP security mechanisms.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Gannett Co., Inc.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Detroit Free Press
Description
Detroit Free Press is a news media organization providing news, sports, business, entertainment, and local information primarily for the Detroit, Michigan area.
Key services
News reporting, Sports coverage, Business news, Entertainment news, Digital newspaper edition
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Polymer, Web Components, Prebid.js, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Consent Management, Adobe Audience Manager, Amazon APS, Criteo, Rubicon, OpenX, Teads, TripleLift, TrustX, Undertone, Yahoo SSP, Yieldmo, Taboola, IAS (Integral Ad Science), Confiant
Frameworks
Polymer
Platforms
Web, AMP
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CSP
  • Cookie consent management
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with search input

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, Chartbeat, Parsely
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Amazon APS, AppNexus, Criteo, Rubicon, OpenX, Teads, TripleLift, TrustX, Undertone, Yahoo SSP, Yieldmo
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Integral Ad Science (IAS), OneTrust
Marketing tools
Adobe Audience Manager, Taboola, Flipp
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a regional news media site affiliated with Detroit Free Press and Gannett
  2. Content is accessible and well-structured with modern web technologies
  3. Strong privacy and cookie consent mechanisms in place
  4. Extensive use of advertising and tracking technologies with consent
  5. No WHOIS data for subdomain as expected; main domain is legitimate
  6. No security blocking or WAF detected
  7. Good SEO and accessibility practices observed
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and complex technical infrastructure including Polymer web components, extensive JavaScript frameworks, and integration with multiple advertising and analytics platforms. Hosting is managed via Gannett's CDN infrastructure, ensuring global content delivery and performance optimization. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in load times and script management. The technical stack is well-suited for a high-traffic news media site but requires continuous maintenance to manage dependencies and security risks associated with numerous third-party services.
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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