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Security report for ibtimes.co.uk

International Business Times UK · Media · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

International Business Times UK is a well-established online news media outlet specializing in business, stock market, and entrepreneurship news. The website targets a general audience interested in financial and business news, providing detailed analysis and in-depth reporting. The business model primarily revolves around advertising revenue supported by multiple ad networks and tracking technologies, with a strong presence on major social media platforms. Technically, the site employs modern JavaScript libraries, Google Tag Manager, and consent management platforms to ensure GDPR compliance and user tracking control. The website is mobile optimized and demonstrates good SEO practices with proper meta tags and structured data. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS, uses anti-bot and ad-block detection scripts, and implements consent frameworks, though it lacks explicit incident response and vulnerability disclosure information. The WHOIS data for the domain is unavailable and indicates registration issues, which slightly impacts the trustworthiness from a domain registration perspective. Overall, the site is professional, secure, and compliant with privacy regulations, making it a reliable source for business news.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 100 · Low
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

3 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 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 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

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
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  • Security headers
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  • 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
77
Security headers
60
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
75

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 International Business Times UK holds a strong market position as a media company focused on business and financial news in the UK. Its competitive advantage lies in its comprehensive news coverage, multi-platform presence, and integration of advertising technologies. The business model is advertising-driven, leveraging programmatic ad networks and user tracking with consent. The target customer segments include business professionals, investors, entrepreneurs, and general readers interested in economic news. Growth indicators include active social media engagement and continuous content updates. The partnership ecosystem includes major ad networks like Google Ad Manager and Amazon APS. Strategic observations suggest maintaining domain registration clarity and enhancing security transparency could further strengthen market trust.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, presence of key security headers, and use of consent management for GDPR compliance. Anti-bot and ad-block detection mechanisms are implemented to protect advertising revenue streams. However, the absence of explicit incident response contacts and vulnerability disclosure policies indicates room for improvement in security transparency and readiness. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. Compliance with GDPR is evident through cookie banners and privacy policies. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from publishing a security.txt file and incident response details to enhance trust and preparedness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting and improve transparency.
  2. Add explicit incident response contact information on the website to enhance security communication.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate risks from vulnerable libraries.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to comply with WCAG standards and improve user experience for all users.
  5. Clarify domain registration details or consider domain consolidation to resolve WHOIS inconsistencies and improve trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
International Business Times UK
Description
Latest breaking news, business news from International Business Times UK Edition. Including detailed analysis and in-depth reporting.
Key services
News reporting, Business news, Stock market updates, Entrepreneur news
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Google Publisher Tags (GPT), Amazon APS, Prebid.js, Rubicon Project, Chartbeat, Consent Framework (CMP), jQuery
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Consent management platform for GDPR compliance
  • Ad-blocker detection
  • Anti-bot detection scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Chartbeat, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager (DoubleClick), Amazon APS, Rubicon Project
Tracking pixels
Chartbeat
Marketing tools
Consent Framework CMP
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional news media site focused on business and finance.
  2. Content is accessible and not blocked by WAF or security challenges.
  3. Strong use of advertising and tracking technologies with consent management.
  4. WHOIS data is missing or indicates domain registration issues.
  5. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliant.
  6. No explicit security incident response or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  7. Social media presence is strong and consistent with brand.
  8. No adult or NSFW content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including Google Tag Manager, Prebid.js for header bidding, Amazon APS, Rubicon Project, and Chartbeat for analytics and advertising. It employs a consent management platform to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and loads external fonts and scripts asynchronously to improve performance. While the CMS is not explicitly identified, the site structure and scripts suggest a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Performance is moderate with room for improvement in accessibility and SEO. Technical risks include reliance on multiple third-party scripts which require regular security audits to prevent vulnerabilities.
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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