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Security report for msn.com

Microsoft Corporation · Media · United States

Low risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

MSN Finland (https://www.msn.com/fi-fi) is a localized version of the global MSN portal operated by Microsoft Corporation. The site offers a comprehensive aggregation of news, weather, sports, finance, entertainment, and video content tailored for Finnish users. It leverages Microsoft's extensive content partnerships and advertising infrastructure to deliver personalized and up-to-date information. The website is well-branded, professionally designed, and optimized for desktop and mobile platforms, reflecting a mature digital presence within the media sector. Technically, the site employs modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks, service workers, and CDN delivery via Akamai. It integrates Microsoft’s ad SDK and OneTrust for cookie consent management, indicating compliance with privacy regulations. The site demonstrates good performance, accessibility, and SEO practices, with a clear focus on user experience and content relevance. From a security perspective, MSN Finland enforces HTTPS with strong SSL configurations and uses security best practices such as nonce-based script loading and cookie consent mechanisms. However, explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and privacy policy links are not directly visible in the provided HTML snapshot, suggesting areas for improvement in transparency and compliance communication. Overall, MSN Finland presents a high level of trustworthiness and professionalism consistent with its parent company Microsoft. The absence of WHOIS data is likely due to registry privacy policies and does not detract from the domain’s legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing visible privacy and security policy disclosures and providing clear contact channels for security incidents to further strengthen user trust and compliance posture.

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. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

  2. 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
    • 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

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Keep watching msn.com

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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
75
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
79

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

MSN Finland operates as a key regional portal under the MSN brand, targeting Finnish-speaking audiences with curated news and multimedia content. Its business model is primarily advertising-supported, leveraging Microsoft's global advertising network and data analytics capabilities. The portal benefits from Microsoft's strong market position in technology and media, offering competitive advantages such as integration with Bing search and Microsoft services. Revenue streams are driven by ad placements and partnerships. The target customer segment includes general internet users seeking news and entertainment. Growth indicators include continuous content updates and technology modernization. The partnership ecosystem includes Bing and other Microsoft properties, reinforcing a robust operational framework.

Security posture

The security posture of MSN Finland is strong, with enforced HTTPS, modern web security practices, and cookie consent compliance. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of visible security policies and incident response contacts limits transparency. Compliance with GDPR is implied through cookie consent but not explicitly documented on the homepage. The site uses Microsoft’s telemetry and ad services, which require ongoing monitoring for privacy compliance. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly visible, suggesting an opportunity to improve user confidence through enhanced disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish and prominently link a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service on the homepage.
  2. Provide clear contact information for security incidents and data protection inquiries.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance transparency around data collection, retention, and user rights to improve GDPR compliance.
  5. Implement a publicly accessible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy to foster trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Microsoft Corporation
Description
Henkilökohtainen ja koostettu kokoelma parhaita luotettavia uutisia, sää-, urheilu-, raha-, matkailu-, viihde-, peli- ja videosisältöjä
Key services
news aggregation, weather updates, sports news, finance information, entertainment content, video content
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, React (implied by SPA structure and bundles), OneTrust cookie consent, Akamai CDN, Microsoft ad SDK, IndexedDB, Service Workers
Frameworks
Microsoft Peregrine widgets
Platforms
Web desktop, Windows targeted (browser detection)
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of nonce in scripts
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of service workers with controlled scope

Analytics and tracking

Services
ScorecardResearch, Microsoft telemetry
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Microsoft Advertising, ScorecardResearch
Tracking pixels
ScorecardResearch, Microsoft telemetry
Marketing tools
OneTrust cookie consent, Microsoft ad SDK
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content in Finnish language.
  2. No WHOIS data available publicly, likely due to registry policies or privacy.
  3. Strong Microsoft branding and infrastructure.
  4. Comprehensive use of modern web technologies and CDNs.
  5. Cookie consent implemented via OneTrust.
  6. No visible contact or privacy policy links on the homepage HTML snapshot.
  7. No forms detected in the provided HTML content.
  8. No direct email addresses or phone numbers found in the HTML.
  9. No social media links explicitly found in the HTML snapshot.
  10. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

MSN Finland utilizes a modern and scalable technical infrastructure including JavaScript frameworks, service workers, and CDN delivery via Akamai. The site is optimized for performance and accessibility, with responsive design and SEO best practices. The use of Microsoft’s ad SDK and OneTrust for cookie management reflects a mature approach to privacy and monetization. IndexedDB and local storage are used for configuration caching, enhancing load times. The absence of a detected CMS suggests a custom or proprietary content management solution. Overall, the technical stack supports a robust and user-friendly media portal with opportunities for further modernization and enhanced security transparency.
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. 86/100Low21 findingsView report
  2. 86/100Low21 findingsView report
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