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Security report for mediastack.com

Mediastack · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Mediastack is a technology company providing a scalable, real-time news API service that aggregates global news and blog articles from over 7,500 sources across 50+ countries. Founded in 2010 and operating under the parent company APILayer, Mediastack targets developers and businesses requiring live news data integration. The website demonstrates a mature digital presence with professional design, clear product offerings, and a free tier to encourage adoption. Technically, the platform leverages modern web technologies, including Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, and Stripe for payment processing, hosted on a Cloudflare-backed infrastructure. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and domain locking, though DNSSEC is not enabled and no explicit security policies are published. Privacy compliance is well addressed through comprehensive policies hosted on a partner domain. Overall, Mediastack presents a trustworthy and professional service with room for improvement in explicit security disclosures and incident response readiness.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

4 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 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 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

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

Keep watching mediastack.com

This scan found 20 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

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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
35
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
71

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

Mediastack occupies a competitive niche in the API-as-a-service market, focusing on live news data aggregation. Its extensive source coverage and real-time updates position it as a valuable tool for media monitoring, brand tracking, and news trend analysis. The business model relies on tiered subscriptions with a free plan to attract developers. The parent company APILayer provides a broader API marketplace, enhancing Mediastack's ecosystem. The company maintains active social media channels and affiliate programs, indicating a strategic approach to marketing and partnerships. No direct contact emails or phone numbers are publicly listed, relying instead on contact forms, which may limit direct customer engagement but reduce spam risks.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses domain locking statuses to prevent unauthorized domain changes, reflecting good security hygiene. Use of reCAPTCHA on forms mitigates automated abuse. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which is a recommended enhancement for DNS security. No dedicated security policy or incident response contacts are published, which could be a gap in transparency and readiness. The presence of multiple tracking and advertising scripts suggests moderate user tracking, balanced by privacy policies indicating GDPR compliance. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  3. Implement a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure program to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Add additional security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options to harden web security.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate risks from outdated components.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Mediastack
Description
Access real-time headlines with our Live News API. Get global news and blog articles from 7,500+ sources in one place. Try Mediastack for free today!
Key services
Live News API, Global news data aggregation, Historical news data, Headlines and blog articles delivery
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.11.3, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, Google reCAPTCHA, Bing Ads, Reddit Ads Pixel, Stripe (payment processing), Cloudflare DNS
Platforms
apilayer cloud infrastructure
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of reCAPTCHA on forms
  • Domain locked with multiple client prohibitions
  • No DNSSEC enabled (recommend enabling)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Microsoft Clarity, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Bing Ads, Reddit Ads
Tracking pixels
Microsoft Clarity, Bing Ads Pixel, Reddit Pixel
Marketing tools
Microsoft Clarity
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional API service platform for live news data.
  2. Clear and comprehensive product and pricing information.
  3. Strong social media presence linked.
  4. Use of modern tracking and analytics tools.
  5. Good security posture with HTTPS and domain locking.
  6. No signs of suspicious or malicious content.
  7. No direct company emails or phone numbers publicly listed.
  8. Contact available via forms only.
  9. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom-built platform with a modern tech stack including jQuery 1.11.3, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, and Stripe for payments. Hosting is supported by Cloudflare DNS services. The site is well optimized for mobile devices and demonstrates fast loading times and good SEO practices. Accessibility features are present but could be further enhanced. The use of multiple analytics and advertising pixels indicates a mature marketing infrastructure. No CMS was detected, suggesting a bespoke or proprietary solution. Overall, the technical implementation supports a robust and scalable API service with good 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

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