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Security report for star-telegram.com

Fort Worth Star-Telegram · Media · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

66/100

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

Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a prominent regional news media outlet serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area, providing comprehensive coverage of local news, sports, entertainment, and community events. Owned by McClatchy, it operates a professional digital platform with a strong market presence and a large audience base. The website features a modern technical infrastructure leveraging contemporary web technologies and multiple advertising and analytics integrations to support its business model. Privacy and cookie consent mechanisms are robust, reflecting compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit security policies and incident response information are not publicly disclosed. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature digital presence with high content quality and user experience, though WHOIS data is unavailable, which slightly impacts trust assessment.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
6of 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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

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

Keep watching star-telegram.com

This scan found 13 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
0
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
66

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention star-telegram.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
456
Employees
1
Customers
394
Third parties
61
Weak passwords
16%

Latest record dated 2025-07-31 · 11 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for star-telegram.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –account.star-telegram.com2025-07-31

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram operates as a key regional news provider under the McClatchy media group, focusing on local news, sports, and lifestyle content. Its revenue streams primarily include advertising and subscriptions, supported by partnerships with major ad networks and affiliate programs. The site targets residents and news consumers in the Fort Worth and greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, maintaining a strong brand identity and consistent content quality. The presence of multiple social media channels and newsletters indicates a diversified audience engagement strategy. The lack of WHOIS transparency is a minor concern but does not detract from the site's established market position and professional operation.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with a presumably strong SSL configuration and integrates a comprehensive cookie consent management platform (Osano) that supports granular user preferences and GDPR compliance. Security headers are partially identified, but explicit Content-Security-Policy headers are not confirmed. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The site lacks publicly available security policies or incident response contacts, which could be improved to enhance transparency and readiness. Overall, the security posture is solid for a media website, with recommendations to publish security policies and implement a security.txt file for vulnerability disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement and publicly link a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  3. Audit and document all third-party scripts regularly to mitigate supply chain risks.
  4. Enhance security headers by adding or confirming Content-Security-Policy and other relevant headers.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie consent mechanisms to stay compliant with evolving regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
McClatchy
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Description
News headlines from Dallas-Fort Worth Texas including Arlington and Tarrant County. Coverage includes crime, local business, politics, sports and more.
Key services
Local news reporting, Sports coverage, Entertainment and lifestyle content, Obituaries, Classifieds, Advertising services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Webpack, Google Fonts, Osano Consent Management, Amazon Ads, DoubleClick, Criteo, PubMatic, Rubicon Project, OpenX, 3lift, Taboola, Escenic CMS
Frameworks
Lit (indicated by lit$ in styles), Pinia (state management for Vue.js inferred)
Platforms
Web, Mobile (responsive design), Video streaming
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with granular controls
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of reputable ad and tracking networks

Analytics and tracking

Services
Parsely (parsely-metadata), Mistats (custom analytics)
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
DoubleClick, Criteo, Casale Media, Index Exchange, AppNexus (ib.adnxs.com), PubMatic, Rubicon Project, OpenX, 3lift, Amazon Ads, Taboola
Tracking pixels
Osano Consent Management, Confiant, Libraryfacts
Marketing tools
Osano CMP, Acuity, Iterate, Marfeel
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional regional news media site with extensive content.
  2. Strong privacy and cookie consent mechanisms are implemented.
  3. Multiple reputable ad networks and tracking services are used.
  4. No security or WAF blocking detected; site fully accessible.
  5. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which is unusual but content suggests legitimacy.
  6. Site uses modern web technologies and frameworks.
  7. Contact information is clearly provided including email, phone, and physical address.
  8. No adult or explicit content detected; content is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack including Vue.js with Pinia for state management, Escenic CMS for content management, and Webpack for asset bundling. It uses multiple third-party ad networks and tracking services, including DoubleClick, Criteo, and Amazon Ads, integrated with a robust consent management platform (Osano). The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by numerous ad scripts and third-party integrations. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical risks include dependency on multiple third-party scripts which require ongoing security monitoring.
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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