Skip to main content

Security report for gazetadecluj.ro

Ziar Gazeta de Cluj · Media · Romania

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Email security and 2 other checks.

Security score

41/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Ziar Gazeta de Cluj is a Romanian investigative weekly newspaper focused on the Cluj county region, providing investigative journalism and news reporting primarily to Romanian-speaking audiences. The website serves as the digital platform for the newspaper, featuring news articles, investigative reports, and local content. The business model relies on advertising revenue, with Google Adsense and Adform integrated for monetization. The company appears to be a small-sized media entity with a long-standing presence since 2002, maintaining consistent branding and a professional online presence. Technically, the website is built on WordPress CMS, utilizing popular plugins such as Yoast SEO for search engine optimization and several theme and composer plugins for layout and content management. Hosting is provided by DigitalOcean, and the site uses HTTPS with a good SSL configuration. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile devices, with basic accessibility features. Advertising and tracking technologies are present but limited to common ad networks and Google Tag Manager. From a security perspective, the site has HTTPS enabled but lacks visible security headers and formal security policies such as a vulnerability disclosure or incident response contact. No privacy or cookie policies were found, indicating gaps in GDPR compliance. No WAF or blocking mechanisms were detected, and no critical vulnerabilities were observed in the provided content. The domain WHOIS data is consistent with the website's business claims, showing a long registration history and reputable registrar. Overall, the website is a legitimate, professional local media outlet with good content quality and technical implementation but requires improvements in privacy compliance and security best practices to enhance trust and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
10/ 100 · Critical
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

10 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.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

  2. 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

  3. 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"

    • 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';…

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

Keep watching gazetadecluj.ro

This scan found 30 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
60
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
10
Average
41

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 website positions itself as a local investigative weekly newspaper serving Cluj county in Romania. Its competitive advantage lies in its investigative journalism niche and long-standing presence since 2002. The business model is primarily advertising-based, leveraging Google Adsense and Adform networks. Target customers are local Romanian-speaking residents interested in news and investigative reports. The site shows growth indicators through active content updates and social media engagement on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube. The partnership ecosystem includes ad networks and hosting providers but no explicit business partners or subsidiaries were identified. Strategic observations suggest focusing on enhancing privacy compliance and security policies to build greater audience trust and meet regulatory requirements.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security posture with HTTPS enabled and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, it lacks important security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection, which are recommended to mitigate common web vulnerabilities. There is no evidence of a security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure mechanism, which limits transparency and readiness for security incidents. The absence of DNSSEC reduces DNS security. Forms are present but no explicit anti-CSRF or input validation mechanisms were observed in the HTML. Overall, the security maturity is basic and improvements are needed to align with best practices and compliance frameworks.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with explicit consent mechanisms to comply with GDPR.
  2. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to enhance web security.
  3. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS integrity and prevent spoofing.
  4. Create and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and conduct audits to improve usability for all users.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ziar Gazeta de Cluj
Description
Singurul saptamanal de investigatii din judetul Cluj
Key services
Investigative journalism, News reporting, Online news content
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, jQuery, Google Fonts, Google Adsense, Adform, Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
td-composer, td-standard-pack, td-cloud-library
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies not explicitly detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense, Adform
Marketing tools
Yoast SEO
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a Romanian investigative weekly newspaper with a focus on Cluj county.
  2. Uses WordPress CMS with popular plugins and ad networks.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found on the main page or header menus.
  4. Contact is primarily via a contact page and social media links.
  5. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
  6. SSL is enabled and hosting is on DigitalOcean.
  7. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
  8. Advertising is present via Google Adsense and Adform.
  9. Social media presence includes Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube.
  10. No phone numbers or emails explicitly labeled as company contacts found in the provided content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform with a well-known Newspaper theme and multiple plugins for content management and SEO. Hosting is on DigitalOcean, a reputable cloud provider. The site uses Google Fonts, jQuery, and integrates Google Adsense and Adform for advertising. Performance is moderate with responsive design and mobile optimization. The site uses structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO and social media integration via Open Graph and Twitter cards. Technical debt appears low but the lack of security headers and privacy policies indicates areas for modernization and compliance improvements. No critical technical risks were detected in the HTML content.
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 gazetadecluj.ro. 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 gazetadecluj.ro.

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.