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Security report for seacoastonline.com

Portsmouth Herald · Media · United States

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

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Seacoastonline.com is a regional news website serving Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and surrounding areas. It provides local news, sports, entertainment, and obituaries, operating under the Portsmouth Herald brand, which is part of the Gannett media network. The site targets local residents and readers interested in regional news and events. The business model is primarily advertising-driven with subscription options for premium content access. The website maintains a consistent and professional brand presence aligned with the USA Today Network. Technically, the site employs modern web technologies including Polymer and Web Components, supported by a robust advertising and analytics infrastructure featuring multiple ad networks and tracking services such as Google Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, and Taboola. The site is hosted on Gannett's CDN infrastructure, optimized for mobile devices, and implements cookie consent management via OneTrust, indicating a mature digital presence. From a security perspective, the website enforces HTTPS, uses standard security headers, and does not expose sensitive data in its HTML content. However, it lacks publicly available security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, which are recommended for enhanced transparency and trust. The privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, reflecting good privacy practices. Overall, Seacoastonline.com presents a trustworthy and professionally managed local news platform with a solid technical foundation and good security hygiene. Strategic improvements in security transparency and accessibility could further strengthen its posture and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
70/ 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

  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 seacoastonline.com

This scan found 21 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
40
Email security
90
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
70
Average
73

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

Seacoastonline.com holds a strong position as a local news provider within the USA Today Network, leveraging Gannett's resources and brand recognition. Its competitive advantage lies in localized content tailored to Portsmouth and nearby communities, supported by a diversified advertising ecosystem. Revenue streams primarily include digital advertising and subscription services. The target customer segment is local residents and news consumers seeking timely and relevant regional information. The partnership ecosystem includes major ad networks and content syndication with USA Today. The company's operations reflect a mature media business with a focus on digital transformation and audience engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with enforced HTTPS, use of security headers, and cookie consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the absence of a public security policy, incident response contact, and vulnerability disclosure program indicates gaps in security transparency and readiness. Compliance with GDPR is evident through consent management and privacy policies. The security culture appears focused on standard best practices but could benefit from enhanced communication and formalized security processes to improve incident handling and vulnerability management.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Enhance website accessibility to meet higher compliance standards and improve user experience.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and ad networks to mitigate potential security risks.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Portsmouth Herald
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Portsmouth Herald
Description
Get the latest breaking news, sports, entertainment and obituaries in Portsmouth, NH from Seacoastonline.com.
Key services
Local news reporting, Sports coverage, Entertainment news, Obituaries, E-edition newspaper access
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Polymer, Web Components, OneTrust (cookie consent), Google Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, Prebid.js, Taboola, Amazon APS, IAS (Integral Ad Science), Criteo, Rubicon, OpenX, Sonobi, Teads, TripleLift, TrustX, Undertone, Yahoo SSP, Yieldmo, Flipp
Frameworks
Polymer
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Adobe Audience Manager, Integral Ad Science
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Amazon APS, AppNexus, Criteo, OpenX, Rubicon, Sonobi, Teads, TripleLift, TrustX, Undertone, Yahoo SSP, Yieldmo
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Adobe Audience Manager, Integral Ad Science (IAS)
Marketing tools
Taboola, Flipp, OneTrust
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional local news portal for Portsmouth, NH.
  2. Content is rich with news, sports, entertainment, and obituaries.
  3. Strong integration with advertising and analytics platforms.
  4. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent management.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. WHOIS data for subdomain not separately registered, consistent with standard subdomain usage.
  7. No security policy or incident response page found publicly.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including Polymer and Web Components, supported by a comprehensive set of advertising and analytics tools. Hosting is managed via Gannett's CDN infrastructure, ensuring reliable content delivery. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and SEO practices. Accessibility is basic and could be improved. The site integrates multiple third-party ad networks and tracking services, which necessitates ongoing security and privacy oversight. Technical debt appears low, but opportunities exist for modernization in accessibility and 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

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