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Security report for heartfm.co.za

Heart FM · Media · South Africa

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

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Heart FM is a community-focused radio station based in Cape Town, South Africa, broadcasting on multiple FM frequencies and offering live streaming services. The station emphasizes authentic storytelling and community engagement, positioning itself as Cape Town's leading radio station with a strong digital and social media presence. The website is built on WordPress with modern plugins and technologies, providing a good user experience and mobile optimization. Security measures include HTTPS and reCAPTCHA, though some security headers and privacy compliance elements are missing. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy, with room for improvement in privacy and security policy disclosures.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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 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';…

  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

  4. 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 heartfm.co.za

This scan found 26 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
65
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
65
Average
56
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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

Heart FM operates in the media sector, targeting local communities in Cape Town and surrounding areas. Its business model revolves around radio broadcasting, digital streaming, and social media engagement, supported by advertising revenue. The station leverages partnerships with social platforms and uses advanced search and analytics tools to enhance user experience. The lack of detailed WHOIS data is mitigated by the station's visible brand presence and active community involvement. Growth opportunities include enhancing privacy compliance and expanding digital services.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of Google reCAPTCHA on forms, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces the overall security robustness. No vulnerabilities were detected in the provided content. The site lacks a vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information, which are recommended for improved security governance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear user consent mechanisms to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Regularly update WordPress core, themes, and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and conduct periodic security audits to maintain a strong security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Heart FM
Description
Heart FM is a community-centred radio station based in Cape Town, South Africa, focused on authentic storytelling and genuine connections with its audience. It broadcasts on multiple FM frequencies covering regions such as Overberg, Overstrand, Drakenstein, Cape Town, West Coast, and Swartland.
Key services
FM radio broadcasting, Live streaming, Social media content, Event promotion
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.3, WPBakery Page Builder, Slider Revolution 6.7.14, Algolia Search, Google Tag Manager, Google Publisher Tags (GPT), reCAPTCHA, jQuery
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (implied by WordPress ecosystem)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager (GPT), DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Algolia
Marketing tools
Algolia Search
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed WordPress site for a South African community radio station.
  2. Content is rich with social media integration and live streaming features.
  3. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. WHOIS data is unavailable, indicating privacy protection or registry limitations.
  5. Security posture is good with HTTPS and reCAPTCHA, but missing some security headers.
  6. Advertising and analytics are implemented with major providers like Google and Algolia.
  7. No adult or questionable content detected; site is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern WordPress CMS with popular plugins such as WPBakery Page Builder and Slider Revolution for content management and presentation. It integrates Algolia for search functionality and Google services for analytics and advertising. Hosting assets are served via WPMU DEV CDN, improving performance. The site is mobile optimized and SEO friendly with proper meta tags. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in caching and asset optimization. The technical stack is well-suited for a media company but requires ongoing maintenance to avoid technical debt.
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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