Skip to main content

Security report for samstodin.is

Samstöðin · Media · Iceland

Medium risk. 10 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

59/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Samstöðin is a small Icelandic media platform established in 2020, focusing on radical social discourse and providing alternative news, opinion articles, and video content. The website targets Icelandic-speaking audiences interested in political and social issues not covered by mainstream media. The business model includes content publication and subscription services. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with common plugins and uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, hosted by an Icelandic hosting provider. The site is mobile optimized and has good SEO practices but lacks some advanced accessibility features. Security posture is moderate with HTTPS enabled but missing DNSSEC and security headers. Privacy and cookie policies are absent, indicating compliance gaps. No contact emails or phone numbers are provided, which may affect user trust. Overall, the site is legitimate and consistent with its domain registration data, but improvements in security and privacy compliance are recommended.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

10 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 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

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

Keep watching samstodin.is

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. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

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
52
Security headers
15
Email security
65
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
59

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

Samstöðin occupies a niche position in the Icelandic media landscape, catering to audiences seeking alternative and radical viewpoints. Its competitive advantage lies in its focused content and community engagement through subscription models. The platform leverages WordPress for content management and integrates video content primarily via YouTube embeds. Revenue streams likely include subscriptions and possibly donations or advertising, though no explicit ads were detected. The target customer segment is politically engaged Icelandic speakers. Growth indicators include regular content updates and active social media presence. The partnership ecosystem is limited, with no explicit partner domains identified. Strategic observations suggest the need for enhanced privacy and security measures to build greater trust and comply with regulations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is properly implemented, ensuring encrypted communications. However, the absence of DNSSEC leaves the domain vulnerable to DNS spoofing attacks. No security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options were detected, which could mitigate common web attacks. There is no published security policy or incident response contact information, limiting transparency and preparedness. No vulnerable libraries or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The lack of privacy and cookie policies indicates compliance gaps with GDPR and related regulations. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a small media site but requires enhancements to reduce risk and improve user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement essential security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to comply with GDPR and inform users about data practices.
  4. Add a security.txt file and incident response contact information to facilitate vulnerability reporting and improve transparency.
  5. Provide clear contact information including company emails and phone numbers to enhance business credibility and user trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Samstöðin
Description
Samstöðin er samfélagssjónvarp og vettvangur fyrir róttæka samfélagsumræðu. Raddir þeirra sem ekki fá rúm í umfjöllun meginstraumsmiðla.
Key services
News articles, Opinion columns, Video clips and shows, Subscription service
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, YouTube Embed Plus plugin, Google Fonts, Material Icons
Frameworks
WordPress theme 'samstodin', Jetpack plugin
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern WordPress version (6.8.3)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Jetpack Stats
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Jetpack Stats (stats.wp.com), WordPress.com Stats pixel
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress-based media platform focused on Icelandic radical social discourse.
  2. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the homepage or linked menus.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly provided on the homepage.
  4. Social media presence includes Twitter handle @samstodin.
  5. Uses HTTPS with valid SSL certificate.
  6. No DNSSEC enabled on domain.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  8. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
  9. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS version 6.8.3 with a custom theme 'samstodin' and uses common JavaScript libraries such as jQuery. It integrates YouTube videos via the YouTube Embed Plus plugin and uses Google Fonts and Material Icons for styling. Hosting is provided by an Icelandic hosting company (1984hosting.com) as indicated by the nameservers. The site is mobile optimized and uses responsive design techniques. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected. SEO is supported by proper meta tags including Open Graph and Twitter Cards. Accessibility is basic with some ARIA landmarks and skip links but could be improved. No critical technical debt or vulnerabilities were identified in the HTML content. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid for a small media outlet but could benefit from enhanced security configurations 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 samstodin.is. 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 samstodin.is.

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.