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Security report for thediplomat.com

Diplomat Media Inc. · Media · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Diplomat is a well-established digital media company specializing in Asia-Pacific current affairs, providing in-depth analysis, news, and multimedia content. It holds a strong market position as a leading regional magazine with a diverse content offering including articles, podcasts, videos, and newsletters. The website demonstrates a mature technical infrastructure built on WordPress, enhanced by Cloudflare DNS and CDN services, and integrates modern tools such as Google Analytics and a consent management platform to ensure privacy compliance. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforcement and domain transfer protections, though improvements like DNSSEC and enhanced security headers could be implemented. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with privacy regulations, serving a broad audience interested in geopolitics and regional affairs.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

7 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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

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

Keep watching thediplomat.com

This scan found 26 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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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • 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
57
Security headers
15
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
63

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

The Diplomat operates in the media sector with a focus on Asia-Pacific geopolitical and socio-economic issues. Its business model combines advertising revenue with subscription services, supported by a strong digital presence and social media engagement. The company leverages partnerships and maintains a magazine subsidiary site. Its competitive advantage lies in its specialized regional focus and comprehensive content formats. The company targets policymakers, academics, and informed readers in the Asia-Pacific region. The domain's longevity and consistent branding reinforce its credibility and market presence.

Security posture

The website exhibits a good security maturity level with HTTPS enabled and domain transfer restrictions in place. The use of Cloudflare DNS adds resilience and performance benefits. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents an area for enhancement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The site uses a consent management platform to comply with GDPR and cookie regulations, indicating awareness of privacy and security best practices. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies are not publicly available, which could be improved to enhance transparency and readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement comprehensive security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options) to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Publish an incident response and vulnerability disclosure policy to improve security transparency and community trust.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance advertising transparency by clearly disclosing ad partners and tracking practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Diplomat Media Inc.
Description
Asia-Pacific’s leading current affairs magazine.
Key services
News articles, Analysis and commentary, Magazine issues, Podcasts, Videos, Photo essays, Newsletter
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Google Custom Search, Cloudflare DNS, FastCMP (Consent Management Platform), jQuery, Google Analytics (gtag.js)
Frameworks
WordPress theme td_theme_v3
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • Use of Cloudflare DNS servers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Actirise, Publift
Tracking pixels
Sparteo
Marketing tools
Google Custom Search
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional digital media publication focused on Asia-Pacific current affairs.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and updated with recent articles.
  3. Strong social media presence and multiple content formats (articles, videos, podcasts).
  4. Uses modern web technologies and consent management for privacy compliance.
  5. No signs of blocking or WAF challenges detected.
  6. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and long-term operation.
  7. Security practices are good but could be improved with DNSSEC and security headers.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using a custom theme (td_theme_v3) and integrates several modern web technologies including Google Analytics, Google Custom Search, and a consent management platform (FastCMP). Hosting and DNS services are provided by Cloudflare, ensuring good performance and security. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. While performance is moderate, there is room for optimization in loading speed and resource management. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, supporting a rich content experience with multimedia and interactive elements.
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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