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Security report for startribune.com

Star Tribune · Media · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Star Tribune is a leading regional media company providing comprehensive news coverage focused on Minnesota, including local politics, sports, culture, and opinion. The website offers rich content including articles, photos, and videos, targeting Minnesota residents and general news consumers. The business model is primarily subscription and advertising-based, positioning Star Tribune as a trusted news source in its market. Technically, the website is built on modern frameworks such as Next.js and React, with integration of consent management and analytics tools, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized and well-structured for user experience. Security posture is moderate with HTTPS and consent management in place, but lacks visible security headers and explicit security policies. WHOIS data is not publicly available, likely due to privacy protection, which is common for media entities. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and safe for general audiences.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

5 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"

    • 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

  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

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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
72
Security headers
35
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
68

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

Star Tribune holds a strong market position as a major Minnesota news provider, leveraging subscription and advertising revenue streams. Its content strategy focuses on local news, sports, culture, and opinion, appealing to a broad regional audience. The company uses advanced digital marketing and analytics tools to optimize user engagement and monetization. Partnerships with podcast platforms and use of personalization tools like Piano indicate a diversified content delivery approach. The absence of explicit contact and compliance pages suggests potential areas for improvement in transparency. The brand is consistent and well recognized in its sector.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and a consent management platform, reflecting baseline security and privacy compliance efforts. However, the absence of visible security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces the overall security posture. No explicit security policies, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are found, which could hinder rapid response to security incidents. The lack of WHOIS transparency is mitigated by the site's professional nature but remains a minor concern. Overall, security practices are adequate but could be enhanced by implementing recommended headers and publishing security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service pages linked prominently on the website.
  3. Provide explicit contact information for security incidents and establish a vulnerability disclosure program.
  4. Improve transparency by providing company contact details and business registration information where appropriate.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to ensure compliance with privacy regulations and minimize user tracking.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Star Tribune
Description
Your source for Minnesota news today. Read articles, view photos or watch videos about news in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, St. Cloud, Rochester, and beyond.
Key services
News articles, Photos, Videos, Subscription services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, JavaScript, CSS, Osano CMP, Google Tag Manager, Optimizely, Piano
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • Consent management platform used
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Cxense
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Cxense, ProsperStack, Optimizely
Marketing tools
Piano
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 news media site focused on Minnesota news.
  2. Content is rich, updated frequently, and well structured.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in HTML content.
  4. Privacy and terms pages not explicitly found or linked in provided content.
  5. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented via Osano CMP.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  7. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts found.
  8. WHOIS data is not publicly available, possibly due to privacy protection.
  9. Site uses modern web technologies and frameworks.
  10. No adult or questionable content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including React and Next.js, enabling server-side rendering and improved performance. Integration with third-party services such as Osano for consent management, Google Tag Manager for analytics, and Optimizely for experimentation indicates a sophisticated digital marketing stack. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in image loading and script management. No CMS is explicitly identified, but the architecture suggests a custom or headless CMS approach. Hosting provider details are not discernible from the content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience but could benefit from enhanced security configurations.
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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