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Security report for thenewstack.io

The New Stack, LLC · Technology · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

The New Stack, LLC operates a professional media website focused on technology news, particularly in cloud native and software development domains. Established in 2014, the company has positioned itself as a niche media outlet serving developers and IT professionals with news, analysis, and sponsored content. The website employs a modern technical infrastructure including Cloudflare DNS and registrar services, Google Tag Manager, and various marketing and analytics tools, supported by a consent management system to comply with privacy regulations. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and domain transfer protections, though improvements such as enabling DNSSEC and publishing explicit security policies would enhance trust. Privacy compliance is partial due to the absence of a clear privacy policy and terms of service in the accessible content. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with extensive advertising and tracking practices managed through consent mechanisms.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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

3 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 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. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching thenewstack.io

This scan found 18 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.

Daily monitoring

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
65
Security headers
30
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
76

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 New Stack operates in the technology media sector, targeting developers and IT decision-makers interested in cloud native technologies and DevOps. Its business model relies on content publishing, advertising, and sponsored materials. The company benefits from a consistent brand and a well-established domain, indicating stable market presence. The use of multiple third-party marketing and analytics platforms suggests a mature digital marketing strategy. However, the lack of visible direct contact information and formal policies may limit some trust aspects. The company appears to have no publicly listed subsidiaries or parent companies, focusing on its core media business.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with HTTPS enabled and domain transfer protections in place. The use of Cloudflare as registrar and DNS provider adds resilience. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers reduces the overall security hardening. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is published, which is a gap in transparency and readiness. The site uses extensive third-party scripts for analytics and advertising, increasing the attack surface but managed with consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service accessible from the homepage.
  3. Add a security policy page including incident response contact information.
  4. Implement and verify security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS.
  5. Review third-party scripts regularly to minimize security risks and improve privacy compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The New Stack, LLC
Description
The New Stack is a media company focused on providing news, analysis, and insights about software development, cloud native technologies, and DevOps.
Key services
Technology news articles, Analysis and opinion pieces, E-books and reports, Event coverage
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Cloudflare DNS and registrar, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, CookiePro for consent management, OneTrust geolocation, Taboola advertising scripts, HubSpot scripts
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled (implied by URL)
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • Use of Cloudflare DNS and registrar

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, HubSpot Analytics
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Taboola, Google AdSense/DoubleClick, Bing Ads, Twitter Ads, Facebook Ads
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Microsoft Clarity, Twitter Pixel, Bing UET
Marketing tools
HubSpot
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional technology media outlet focused on cloud native and software development topics.
  2. Uses multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools with consent management.
  3. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service found in the provided content.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content.
  5. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  6. Domain is well-established and registered with Cloudflare, with no DNSSEC enabled.
  7. Website uses HTTPS and Cloudflare DNS but could improve security headers and DNSSEC.
  8. Advertising and tracking practices are extensive but managed with consent scripts.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a WordPress CMS platform with Cloudflare DNS and registrar services, integrating Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and multiple advertising networks including Taboola and Facebook. Consent management is handled via CookiePro and OneTrust geolocation services. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and preloading of key images for performance. Accessibility features are basic but present. SEO optimization is good with proper meta tags and structured content. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements by optimizing third-party script loading and caching strategies. No major technical debt or deprecated technologies were detected.
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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