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Security report for gq.com

Condé Nast · Media · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

GQ is a leading men's fashion and lifestyle media brand owned by Condé Nast, offering a wide range of content including style, grooming, fitness, entertainment, lifestyle, news, and politics. The website serves a mature male audience interested in contemporary fashion and culture. The business model is primarily media publishing supported by advertising revenue, with a strong market position as a reputable and established brand in the men's lifestyle segment. Technically, the site employs modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks, Google Publisher Tags for advertising, and a privacy management platform (Fides) to comply with global privacy regulations. The site is mobile optimized and SEO friendly, providing a good user experience with professional design and clear navigation. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced, appropriate security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. However, direct contact information and explicit security incident response contacts are not readily found, which could be improved. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and safe for general audiences.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

5 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"

    • 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';…
  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

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

Keep watching gq.com

This scan found 17 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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  • 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
90
Security headers
25
Email security
87
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
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

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 gq.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
677
Employees
0
Customers
565
Third parties
112
Weak passwords
24%

20 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 gq.com.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

GQ operates within the media sector under the Condé Nast umbrella, leveraging a strong brand and content portfolio to attract a targeted male demographic interested in fashion and lifestyle. The company benefits from a large enterprise scale and a network of sister sites that enhance its market reach and advertising potential. Revenue streams are primarily advertising-based, supported by partnerships with major ad networks like Google DoubleClick. The site integrates advanced marketing and analytics tools to optimize user engagement and ad performance. The partnership ecosystem includes multiple Condé Nast properties and regional media partners. Growth indicators include consistent content updates, strong social media presence, and compliance with evolving privacy regulations. Strategic observations suggest maintaining brand consistency and expanding direct user engagement channels could further strengthen market position.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no detected vulnerabilities in the analyzed content. Privacy management is robust, utilizing a consent management platform to comply with GDPR and other privacy laws. However, the absence of publicly visible incident response contacts and vulnerability disclosure policies indicates room for improvement in transparency and readiness. No signs of malware, phishing, or exposed credentials were found. The site follows best practices for securing user data and managing third-party scripts. Regular audits and enhanced communication channels for security issues are recommended to maintain and improve security maturity.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a clear vulnerability disclosure policy and security contact information to enhance transparency and incident response readiness.
  2. Improve accessibility features to meet higher standards and ensure inclusivity for all users.
  3. Conduct regular security audits of third-party scripts and advertising technologies to mitigate supply chain risks.
  4. Enhance direct contact information availability for business and security inquiries to improve trust and user support.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie policies regularly to reflect changes in regulations and business practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Condé Nast
Description
The latest tips and advice for men on style, grooming, fitness, best products, travel destinations and more. Find politics, sports and entertainment news.
Key services
Fashion and style content, Grooming advice, Fitness tips, Entertainment news, Lifestyle articles, Politics and sports news
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, React (likely, based on script patterns), Google Publisher Tags (GPT), Fides privacy management, Martech by Condé Nast
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Consent management implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Parsely
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Parsely
Marketing tools
Martech by Condé Nast
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a major men's fashion and lifestyle media property
  2. Content is rich, professionally presented, and well structured
  3. Strong privacy and cookie consent mechanisms implemented
  4. No direct contact information found on homepage HTML
  5. WHOIS data is not publicly available, indicating privacy protection
  6. Use of multiple Condé Nast related domains and partner sites
  7. Advertising and tracking scripts are standard for media websites
  8. No security or WAF blocking detected
  9. No adult or explicit content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including JavaScript frameworks, Google Publisher Tags for ad serving, and a proprietary privacy management platform (Fides). The CMS appears to be a custom or proprietary solution used by Condé Nast (Verso platform). Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and SEO practices. The site includes multiple external scripts for advertising, analytics, and marketing, which are standard for media websites but require ongoing monitoring for security and performance impact. Technical debt appears low, but continuous modernization and optimization efforts are advisable to maintain competitive advantage and user experience.
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. 74/100Medium25 findingsView report
  2. 74/100Medium25 findingsView report
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