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Security report for therecord.media

The Record · Media · United States

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

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Record is a specialized cybersecurity news media outlet affiliated with Recorded Future, providing timely and exclusive content targeted at cybersecurity professionals, policymakers, and industry leaders. The site offers news articles, a subscription newsletter (Cyber Daily®), and a podcast, positioning itself as a trusted source in the cybersecurity media niche. The business operates primarily in the US and was founded in 2020, aligning with the domain registration date. Technically, the website is built on modern frameworks including Next.js and React, hosted behind Cloudflare DNS, and uses privacy-conscious analytics tools like Matomo alongside Google Tag Manager. The site demonstrates excellent performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility, with a professional and consistent branding approach. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and employs clientTransferProhibited domain status, but lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers. There is no visible cookie consent mechanism despite the use of tracking scripts, and no published security or incident response policies. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present, which could be improved to enhance trust and compliance. Overall, the website is professional, content-rich, and technically sound with a strong business credibility score. The main risks relate to privacy compliance and explicit security policy transparency. Strategic improvements in these areas would further strengthen the site's trustworthiness and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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 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 therecord.media

This scan found 19 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
75
Security headers
40
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
74

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 Record operates as a niche cybersecurity news media outlet under the Recorded Future umbrella, targeting cybersecurity professionals and stakeholders with exclusive news and analysis. Its business model revolves around content publishing, newsletter subscriptions, and podcasts, leveraging Recorded Future's reputation. The company benefits from a strong digital presence and partnerships, including social media channels and advertising with 6sense and Twitter Ads. The domain age and registration details align with the company's founding date, supporting legitimacy. The site’s content quality and professional editorial team indicate a mature operation with growth potential in cybersecurity media.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with HTTPS enforcement and domain transfer protection. However, the absence of DNSSEC and some security headers presents opportunities for enhancement. The lack of a cookie consent mechanism and explicit privacy compliance features is a gap given GDPR considerations. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is published, which limits transparency. The use of privacy-respecting analytics like Matomo is a positive indicator. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved by adopting additional best practices and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and integrity.
  2. Implement and display a cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  4. Create and maintain a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Add explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Record
Description
The Record from Recorded Future News provides up-to-date cyber security news with exclusive access to leaders, policymakers, and the cyber underground.
Key services
Cybersecurity news articles, Cyber Daily® newsletter subscription, Click Here Podcast
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Next.js, React, Matomo Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Cloudflare DNS, 6sense, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Client transfer prohibited domain status
  • No DNSSEC enabled (recommend enabling)
  • Use of Matomo for privacy-respecting analytics

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Ad networks
6sense, Twitter Ads
Tracking pixels
Matomo, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Marketing tools
6sense
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 cybersecurity news media outlet affiliated with Recorded Future.
  2. Content is rich, up-to-date, and well-structured with multiple news articles and briefs.
  3. Strong social media presence across Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Mastodon, and Bluesky.
  4. No explicit cookie consent mechanism found despite use of tracking scripts.
  5. No visible email addresses or phone numbers; contact is via a contact form only.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published on site.
  7. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected.
  8. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools with good performance and mobile optimization.
  9. WHOIS data shows domain is relatively new but consistent with business profile.
Technical notes

Notes

The Record website is built using Next.js and React, indicating a modern and scalable frontend framework. Hosting is supported by Cloudflare DNS, providing performance and security benefits. The site uses Matomo for analytics, favoring privacy, alongside Google Tag Manager and Twitter tracking scripts for marketing and retargeting. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices and accessibility, with fast loading times and proper SEO meta tags. The CMS appears to be Strapi or a similar headless CMS based on JSON API structures. There is no evidence of outdated or vulnerable libraries. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust, modern, and well-maintained, supporting a high-quality user experience.
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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