Skip to main content

Security report for radiolab.org

WNYC Studios · Media · United States

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Radiolab.org is the official podcast website for Radiolab, a well-established investigative storytelling podcast produced by WNYC Studios. The site offers podcast episodes, exclusive member content via 'The Lab', and newsletter subscriptions. It targets podcast listeners interested in arts, culture, science, and investigative journalism. The business model is content-driven with membership and subscription revenue streams. The site is professionally designed with consistent branding and a clear navigation structure, reflecting its position as a reputable media brand in the public radio space. Technically, the website is built using modern web frameworks such as Nuxt.js and Vue.js, hosted on Amazon AWS infrastructure. It integrates analytics and marketing tools including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Algolia Search, and Spotify tracking pixels. The site is mobile optimized and performs moderately well, though accessibility features are basic. The CMS appears custom and internal to WNYC Studios. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and has domain registration protections in place. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and no explicit security headers or incident response policies are published on the site. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is good, with a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service hosted on the parent WNYC domain. Cookie consent mechanisms are not evident on the Radiolab domain. Overall, Radiolab.org presents a trustworthy and professional digital presence with strong business credibility and moderate technical maturity. Strategic improvements could include enabling DNSSEC, implementing security headers, and publishing explicit security and incident response policies to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

6 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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

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

Keep watching radiolab.org

This scan found 23 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
82
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
66

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

Radiolab.org operates as a content platform under WNYC Studios, a major public radio producer. The site leverages a membership model ('The Lab') to monetize exclusive content, supplementing traditional public radio funding. Its market positioning is strong within the podcasting and public radio sectors, appealing to a broad audience interested in science, culture, and investigative journalism. The partnership ecosystem includes WNYC Studios and related public radio entities. The site’s use of modern web technologies and analytics indicates a commitment to digital maturity and audience engagement. Growth indicators include active newsletter subscriptions and member-exclusive offerings. The absence of direct contact information suggests a focus on digital engagement channels rather than direct customer support. Strategically, Radiolab benefits from its association with WNYC Studios and NPR, providing brand trust and reach. The site’s technical infrastructure supports scalability and integration with marketing and analytics tools, positioning it well for audience growth and monetization.

Security posture

Radiolab.org demonstrates a moderate security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain registration protections such as clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited status codes. The domain is long-standing and consistent with the brand’s history, enhancing trust. However, the lack of DNSSEC implementation is a minor security gap that could expose DNS spoofing risks. No security headers like Content-Security-Policy or Strict-Transport-Security were detected, which are recommended best practices to mitigate common web attacks. No explicit security policies, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure programs are published on the site, which limits transparency and readiness perception. The use of third-party analytics and tracking pixels introduces privacy considerations but appears compliant with GDPR as per the privacy policy. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were identified in the HTML content. Recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, and publishing clear security and incident response policies to improve security maturity and stakeholder confidence.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Publish explicit security policies and incident response contact information on the website.
  4. Add a cookie consent banner or cookie policy to improve privacy compliance transparency.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve inclusivity and compliance with standards.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
WNYC Studios
Description
Radiolab is a podcast platform produced by WNYC Studios, focusing on investigative storytelling and exploring strange and intriguing topics.
Key services
Podcast episodes, Exclusive member content (The Lab), Newsletter subscription
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Nuxt.js, PrimeVue, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Algolia Search, Spotify Pixel
Frameworks
Vue.js, Nuxt.js
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Ad networks
htlbid.com
Tracking pixels
pixel.byspotify.com, google-analytics.com
Marketing tools
Algolia Search
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional podcast platform for Radiolab by WNYC Studios.
  2. Content is accessible and not blocked by any WAF or security challenge.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the main site.
  4. Privacy and terms pages are hosted on WNYC.org domain, indicating shared governance.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  6. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts found on the site.
  7. No cookie consent banner or explicit cookie policy detected on the Radiolab domain.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern JavaScript framework (Nuxt.js with Vue.js) and integrates several third-party services for analytics (Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager), search (Algolia), and marketing (Spotify pixel). Hosting is on Amazon AWS infrastructure, providing scalability and reliability. The site is mobile optimized and has good SEO metadata including Open Graph and Twitter cards. Performance is moderate, with some preloading and prefetching optimizations. The CMS appears custom and internal, indicating a tailored content management approach. There is no evidence of legacy or vulnerable libraries in the HTML content. However, the absence of security headers and DNSSEC indicates some technical debt in security hardening. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and scalable podcast platform but could benefit from enhanced security and privacy features.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with radiolab.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review radiolab.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.