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Security report for theathletic.com

The Athletic · Media · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

85/100

Risk levelLow

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

The Athletic UK is a premium sports news and analysis platform owned by The New York Times, providing in-depth coverage of sports teams and leagues with a subscription-based business model. The website targets sports fans primarily in the UK and English-speaking countries, offering high-quality journalism and comprehensive sports content. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies including React and Next.js, with integrated analytics and consent management tools, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and no detected vulnerabilities, complemented by clear privacy and cookie policies indicating GDPR compliance. Overall, the site presents a low risk profile with strong business credibility and technical maturity.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of theathletic.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 100 · Low
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

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. 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 theathletic.com

This scan found 13 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.

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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
82
Security headers
75
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
85

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

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 theathletic.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
3,383
Employees
6
Customers
3,326
Third parties
51
Weak passwords
9%

Latest record dated 2026-06-12 · 9 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 theathletic.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –theathletic.com2026-06-12
  • –theathletic.com2026-04-30
  • –theathletic.com2025-12-05
  • –theathletic.com2025-07-28
  • –theathletic.com2025-07-13

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 Athletic UK holds a strong market position as a premium sports media brand under The New York Times umbrella. Its subscription-based model focuses on delivering exclusive sports content and analysis, appealing to dedicated sports enthusiasts. The company benefits from a reputable parent organization, extensive content quality, and consistent branding. Partnerships with customer support platforms and use of advanced analytics tools indicate a mature digital ecosystem. Growth potential is supported by a loyal audience and strategic content curation. The business operates primarily in the media sector with a large organizational size and a founding date of 2016.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analysis. Privacy compliance is robust, with clear policies and consent mechanisms in place. However, the absence of a public vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information suggests areas for improvement. The lack of a security.txt file reduces transparency for security researchers. Overall, the site maintains strong protections suitable for a media company handling user data and subscriptions.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a public vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to enhance transparency and facilitate responsible reporting.
  2. Improve visibility of incident response contacts to strengthen security incident management.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  4. Continue enhancing consent management to maintain GDPR and privacy compliance.
  5. Invest in ongoing security awareness and culture to sustain strong security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
The Athletic
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Athletic
Description
Unrivaled sports coverage across every team you care about and every league you follow. Get breaking news, powerful stories and smart analysis from the best writers in sports.
Key services
Sports news, Commentary, Results, Fixtures, In-depth analysis
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Datadog RUM, Google Tag Manager, Chartbeat, Scorecard Research, Transcend Consent Management
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Secure cookies and consent management

Analytics and tracking

Services
Datadog RUM, Chartbeat, Scorecard Research
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Scorecard Research, Chartbeat, Brandmetrics
Tracking pixels
Datadog RUM
Marketing tools
Datadog RUM
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website content is fully accessible and rich in sports news and analysis.
  2. No signs of WAF or security blocking.
  3. Strong branding and consistent professional presentation.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  5. Clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  6. No exposed sensitive data or security vulnerabilities detected.
  7. WHOIS data unavailable but website legitimacy is high.
  8. No adult or explicit content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The Athletic UK website is built on a modern React and Next.js framework, enabling server-side rendering and improved SEO. The integration of Datadog RUM, Chartbeat, and Scorecard Research provides comprehensive analytics and user behavior tracking. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with opportunities to optimize loading times further. The use of multiple CSS stylesheets and deferred JavaScript loading indicates attention to performance. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary content management solution. Hosting provider details were not identified from the data.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 86/100Low20 findingsView report
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