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Security report for hromadske.ua

hromadske · Media · Ukraine

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Hromadske is a well-established Ukrainian independent news media outlet founded in 2013, providing comprehensive news coverage including political, economic, social, and cultural topics. The website offers diverse content formats such as articles, videos, podcasts, and special projects, targeting a general audience interested in current events in Ukraine and worldwide. The brand maintains a consistent and professional online presence with strong social media integration. Technically, the website leverages modern web technologies including React, Google Tag Manager, and AMP for performance and responsiveness. It employs HTTPS with good SSL configuration and uses cookie consent mechanisms to comply with privacy norms. The site is optimized for mobile devices and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and rich content. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks explicit security headers, a published security policy, and incident response contact information. Privacy compliance is partial due to the absence of a clearly accessible privacy policy and terms of service. WHOIS data confirms the domain's legitimacy and consistency with the business claims. Overall, Hromadske demonstrates a strong digital maturity and trustworthy media presence but would benefit from enhanced transparency in privacy and security policies to improve compliance and user trust.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of hromadske.ua. View the latest report

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 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

  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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

  4. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Potential Subdomain Takeover

      Subdomain api.hromadske.ua points to unregistered service prod-int-alb-apps-994865767.eu-central-1.elb.amazonaws.com

      What to do: Remove or fix CNAME record to prevent subdomain takeover

      • WSTG-CONF-10
      • NIS2 21(2)(i)
      • IR 2024/2690 12.4: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 12.4: Asset inventory
      • NIST CM-8: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-8: System Component Inventory

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

Keep watching hromadske.ua

This scan found 22 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
75
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
69

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

Hromadske holds a leading position in the Ukrainian independent media market, focusing on delivering timely and reliable news content. Its business model revolves around content publishing, multimedia production, and community engagement, supported by an online store and partnerships. The target audience is broad, encompassing Ukrainian-speaking individuals interested in news and culture. The company shows growth potential through diversified content formats and active social media channels. Strategic partnerships, such as community support platforms, enhance its ecosystem. The absence of explicit contact information and privacy documentation suggests areas for operational improvement.

Security posture

The website's security posture is solid in terms of HTTPS enforcement and absence of exposed sensitive information. Use of Google Tag Manager and cookie consent indicates awareness of privacy and tracking concerns. However, the lack of security headers like Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No visible vulnerability disclosure or incident response contacts limit transparency and responsiveness to security incidents. GDPR compliance is partial due to missing privacy policy documentation. Overall, the security maturity is moderate with room for improvement in policy publication and technical hardening.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service accessible from the homepage.
  2. Implement and configure security headers such as CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  3. Create and publish a security policy including incident response contact information (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email).
  4. Enhance transparency by providing clear business contact details including emails and phone numbers.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to ensure privacy compliance and minimize user tracking.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
hromadske
Description
Новини в Україні і світі. Надзвичайні новини сьогодні. Всі новини дня. Суспільство та культура. Політичні, економічні, спортивні новини. Читайте на hromadske
Key services
news articles, videos, podcasts, special projects, production, online store
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Google Tag Manager, CookieYes, AMP Project, WebP images, CSS3, JavaScript
Frameworks
React
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for analytics
  • Cookie consent banner implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google AdSense, DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (implied via GTM)
Marketing tools
CookieYes
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional Ukrainian news media outlet with extensive content.
  2. Strong social media presence across multiple platforms.
  3. Uses modern web technologies and responsive design.
  4. Implements cookie consent mechanism.
  5. Lacks explicit privacy policy and terms of service links.
  6. No visible contact emails or phone numbers on the main page.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response information found.
  8. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and consistency with business claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern React-based frontend with module preloading and optimized image formats (WebP). It integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics and advertising, and CookieYes for cookie consent management. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. Performance is enhanced by asynchronous script loading and preconnect/dns-prefetch hints. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. Hosting provider details are not evident from the HTML. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a fast, scalable, and user-friendly experience but could benefit from enhanced security header implementation.
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. 69/100Medium30 findingsView report
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