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Security report for midrange.com

midrange.com / David Gibbs · Technology · N/a

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

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

midrange.com is a long-established, niche online community resource dedicated to IBM i midrange system professionals. It offers free mailing lists, discussion forums, archives, and a wiki to support users and developers of IBM i, System i5, iSeries, and AS/400 platforms. The site is maintained by David Gibbs, a senior software engineer, and is hosted on Amazon AWS Lightsail. The website employs standard web technologies including Bootstrap and jQuery, with integrations for Google Analytics, Adsense, and LinkedIn widgets. While the site lacks explicit privacy and security policy pages, it implements a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism compliant with GDPR standards. Security posture is moderate with HTTPS enabled and domain protections in place, but could benefit from additional security headers and DNSSEC activation. Overall, the site is trustworthy, content-rich, and serves a specialized technical audience effectively.

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

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 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 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 midrange.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

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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
62
Security headers
45
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
65
Average
65

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 business operates as a free community platform supported by affiliate commissions and donations, targeting IBM i professionals globally. Its competitive advantage lies in its longevity, focused content, and active mailing list ecosystem. The business model emphasizes community engagement and knowledge sharing rather than direct monetization. Partnerships with hosting providers and affiliate programs enhance operational sustainability. Growth indicators include consistent domain age and active mailing list participation. The site owner’s professional background adds credibility. The platform’s niche focus limits broad market exposure but strengthens its position within the IBM i midrange community.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and domain status flags preventing unauthorized transfers or deletions. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security reduces defense-in-depth. No explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are published, which could hinder rapid mitigation of security events. The cookie consent mechanism is robust and GDPR compliant, indicating awareness of privacy regulations. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. Enhancing security policies and implementing DNSSEC would improve resilience and trust.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Enable DNSSEC to protect DNS integrity and prevent spoofing.
  3. Publish explicit security and incident response policies to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Add a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting and responsible disclosure.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to mitigate supply chain risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
midrange.com / David Gibbs
Description
midrange.com is a free online resource providing discussion forums, mailing lists, archives, and a wiki for IBM i (System i, iSeries, AS/400) professionals. It is maintained and operated by David Gibbs, a Sr. Software Engineer at O'Reilly Auto Parts.
Key services
Email-based discussion forums, Mailing list archives, Community wiki, Support and information sharing
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 3.3.5, jQuery 1.11.2, Google Fonts, Google Analytics, Google Adsense, LinkedIn Follow Company widget, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
Amazon AWS Lightsail
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense
Tracking pixels
Google Adsense, LinkedIn Follow Company
Marketing tools
LinkedIn widget
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
basic
User experience
basic
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
basic
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is a niche community resource for IBM i professionals.
  2. Content is primarily technical and community-driven.
  3. No privacy policy page explicitly found, but a robust cookie consent mechanism is present.
  4. No terms of service or security policy pages detected.
  5. Contact information is limited to email addresses only; no phone or physical address found.
  6. Website uses multiple third-party scripts for analytics and advertising.
  7. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  8. Security headers are not explicitly detected; opportunity for improvement.
  9. Domain is old and well-established, supporting trustworthiness.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a stable but somewhat dated technology stack with Bootstrap 3.3.5 and jQuery 1.11.2, which may pose modernization opportunities. Hosting on Amazon AWS Lightsail provides reliable infrastructure. Performance is moderate with basic mobile optimization and accessibility features. SEO is basic but functional with meta tags and canonical links. The site relies on multiple third-party services for fonts, analytics, advertising, and social media integration, which increases external dependencies. There is no detected CMS, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. Technical debt is moderate due to older libraries and lack of advanced optimization. Opportunities exist to upgrade frameworks, improve mobile responsiveness, and enhance accessibility compliance.
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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