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Security report for stltoday.com

Lee Enterprises · Media · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

63/100

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

STLtoday.com is the digital presence of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, operated by Lee Enterprises, a large media company. The website provides comprehensive news coverage, weather, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle content focused on the St. Louis metropolitan area and Missouri. It targets local residents and readers interested in regional news and events, offering subscription-based access alongside advertising revenue streams. The site is well-branded and maintains a consistent professional appearance with a strong social media footprint.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 100 · Low
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

1 finding 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

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Keep watching stltoday.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
0
Email security
55
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
95
Average
63

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The website holds a strong regional market position as a leading news provider in St. Louis and Missouri. Its business model leverages digital subscriptions, advertising, and partnerships with related local media and service sites. The presence of multiple partner domains and integrated services like obituaries and local deals indicates a broad ecosystem supporting user engagement and monetization. The company benefits from Lee Enterprises' established reputation and infrastructure.

Security posture

The site demonstrates a solid security posture with HTTPS enforced, use of reCAPTCHA Enterprise, and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism via Osano. Security headers are implied though not fully enumerated, and no vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, explicit security policies, incident response information, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not published, representing areas for improvement to enhance transparency and readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures.
  3. Enhance HTTP security headers with explicit Referrer-Policy and Permissions-Policy directives.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Provide clear and accessible contact channels for security incidents and abuse reports.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Lee Enterprises
Description
Read breaking news for St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area, weather, traffic, crime, sports, entertainment, politics, and more on www.stltoday.com.
Key services
News reporting, Weather updates, Sports coverage, Entertainment and lifestyle content, Digital subscriptions, E-edition access
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise, Osano Consent Management, Prebid.js, Bootstrap, jQuery, Firebase Messaging, Amazon Publisher Services, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), TownNews BLOX CMS
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Consent management for cookies
  • Use of reCAPTCHA Enterprise
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick, Amazon Publisher Services, AdLightning
Tracking pixels
Osano Consent Management
Marketing tools
Osano Consent Management
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a regional news portal for St. Louis and Missouri.
  2. Uses modern web technologies and consent management.
  3. No signs of malicious or adult content.
  4. WHOIS data unavailable, possibly due to privacy protection.
  5. Strong social media presence across multiple platforms.
  6. Advertising and analytics are implemented with user consent.
  7. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including TownNews BLOX CMS, Bootstrap framework, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Amazon Publisher Services, and Firebase Messaging. It employs advanced consent management with Osano and integrates advertising networks responsibly with user consent. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly. Performance is moderate, with opportunities for optimization. The technical infrastructure supports a robust digital news platform with scalable content delivery.
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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