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Security report for msnbc.com

MSNBC · Media · N/a

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in DNS health.

Security score

78/100

Risk levelLow

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

MSNBC is a major US-based news media organization providing breaking news, live audio, video streaming, and world news updates. The website demonstrates a high level of digital maturity, leveraging modern web technologies such as React and Next.js, integrated with advanced analytics and advertising platforms including Taboola, Criteo, and Parsely. The site is well-optimized for performance, mobile responsiveness, and SEO, delivering an excellent user experience with consistent branding and professional content. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and cookie consent mechanisms, although explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly disclosed. Overall, the website represents a trustworthy and professional media outlet with extensive content and robust technical infrastructure.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of msnbc.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 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

1 finding rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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 staging.msnbc.com points to unregistered service stg-elb-verticalsweb-m-1597658787.us-west-2.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 msnbc.com

This scan found 17 issues across 5 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
90
Security headers
60
Email security
60
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
100
Average
78

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

MSNBC operates as an essential entity within the media sector, targeting a general audience interested in news and current events. Its business model centers on news reporting and multimedia content delivery, supported by advertising and partnerships within the NBCUniversal ecosystem. The site maintains a strong market position as a recognized news brand with extensive reach. The integration of multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools indicates a sophisticated approach to audience engagement and monetization. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers on the site suggests centralized contact management likely handled via dedicated corporate channels.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and a cookie consent framework aligned with GDPR requirements. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. However, the lack of a published security policy, incident response information, or vulnerability disclosure program represents an area for improvement. The use of multiple third-party scripts necessitates ongoing security audits to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the site is secure for users but could enhance transparency and readiness by publishing explicit security governance documents.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  3. Enhance contact information with dedicated security and abuse email addresses.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Maintain up-to-date WHOIS registration data to improve domain transparency and trustworthiness.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MSNBC
Description
MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team.
Key services
news reporting, live audio, video streaming, world news updates
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Adobe Launch, Taboola, OneTrust, Google Tag Manager, Parsely, Branch.io, Criteo, Airship
Frameworks
Next.js
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CSP
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Parsely, ScorecardResearch, Google Analytics (via GTM inferred)
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Taboola, Criteo
Tracking pixels
Parsely, ScorecardResearch, Branch.io, Adobe Launch
Marketing tools
OneTrust, Adobe Launch
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 and no blocking
  2. Strong use of modern web technologies and frameworks
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie consent mechanisms present
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML content
  5. WHOIS data unavailable, likely due to privacy protection
  6. Multiple trusted third-party integrations for analytics and advertising
  7. No security.txt or explicit security contact information found
  8. High-quality news media content with consistent branding
  9. No adult or NSFW content detected
  10. No suspicious or malicious domains linked
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack featuring React and Next.js, enabling server-side rendering and fast performance. Integration with Adobe Launch, Taboola, Criteo, and other marketing tools reflects a complex but well-managed digital ecosystem. Hosting appears to be managed by NBCUniversal's infrastructure, ensuring enterprise-grade reliability. The site is optimized for mobile devices and accessibility, with good SEO practices evident in metadata and structured data usage. Technical risks include reliance on multiple third-party scripts which require vigilant security monitoring. Overall, the technical implementation supports a high-quality user experience and robust business operations.
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. 75/100Medium27 findingsView report
  2. 75/100Medium12 findings · partial scanView report
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