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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 organization founded in 2013. It provides comprehensive news coverage including political, economic, social, and cultural topics, along with video content, podcasts, and special projects. The website targets a general audience interested in current events in Ukraine and worldwide. Technically, the site uses modern web technologies such as React and integrates analytics and advertising scripts from Google and Membrana Media. The site is mobile optimized and well-structured for user experience. Security posture is good with HTTPS enforced, but lacks some security headers and explicit privacy and cookie policies. No contact information or incident response details are publicly available, which could be improved for transparency and compliance. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and content-rich, serving as a key media outlet in Ukraine.

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 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

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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
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 an important position in the Ukrainian media landscape as an independent news source. Its business model revolves around content publishing, supported by advertising and possibly donations (indicated by 'Підтримати' links). The presence of an online store suggests diversification of revenue streams. The company maintains active social media channels to engage audiences. The domain age and WHOIS data confirm legitimacy and consistency with the business history. The site’s content quality and branding are consistent and professional, supporting strong market credibility.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of a published security policy or vulnerability disclosure mechanism are gaps. No contact channels for security incidents are provided. The use of multiple third-party scripts introduces potential risk vectors that require ongoing monitoring. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms, which is a compliance risk especially under GDPR. Overall, security is adequate but could be enhanced with better policies and headers.

Recommendations

  1. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with GDPR-compliant consent mechanisms.
  2. Implement and configure security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Create and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  4. Provide clear contact information including security incident response contacts.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to minimize vulnerabilities.
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 publishing, Video content, Podcasts, Special projects, Online store
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Membrana Media scripts, DoubleClick, Ideal Media scripts
Frameworks
React
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google Tag Manager asynchronously
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Yandex Metrica (ym.js)
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick, Admixer, SmartyTouch
Tracking pixels
Membrana Media
Marketing tools
Membrana Media scripts
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 platform with extensive content.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found in the HTML content.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the content.
  4. Strong social media presence with official accounts linked.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  6. Advertising and tracking scripts are present but standard for media sites.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  8. No explicit security headers detected in the provided data.
  9. No signs of WAF or content blocking.
  10. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using React and modern JavaScript modules, with asynchronous loading of Google Tag Manager and analytics scripts to optimize performance. It uses responsive design techniques and serves multiple image formats (JPEG, WebP) for performance. The site leverages third-party advertising and tracking services including Google DoubleClick and Membrana Media. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). Hosting provider details are not explicit in the 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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 69/100Medium30 findingsView report
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