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Security report for unionleader.com

UnionLeader.com · Media · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

73/100

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

UnionLeader.com is a regional news media website serving primarily the New Hampshire area, offering news, opinion, sports, and local event information. The site operates on a subscription and advertising business model, targeting a general audience interested in local and regional news. The website is professionally designed with consistent branding and good content quality, supported by a modern technical infrastructure including TownNews CMS, Bootstrap, and various advertising and analytics technologies. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and standard security headers, although explicit security policies and incident response information are not publicly available. The absence of WHOIS data is unusual but does not detract significantly from the site's legitimacy given the professional content and infrastructure. Overall, the site presents a trustworthy and well-maintained digital presence for a regional news publisher.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 100 · Medium
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

3 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 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

  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

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Keep watching unionleader.com

This scan found 16 issues across 5 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
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
73

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

UnionLeader.com holds a strong position as a regional news leader in New Hampshire, leveraging a mixed revenue model of subscriptions and advertising. The site integrates with partner platforms for subscriptions, job boards, classifieds, and news archives, indicating a broad ecosystem. The target market includes local residents and news consumers seeking regional coverage. The use of established ad networks and analytics tools suggests a mature digital marketing approach. The lack of visible company registration or detailed business information on the site limits deeper business intelligence but the site's professional presentation and content breadth indicate a stable operation.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with HTTPS, security headers, and use of reCAPTCHA on forms to prevent abuse. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. However, the absence of published security policies, incident response plans, or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms indicates room for improvement in transparency and readiness. The site complies with GDPR as indicated by privacy and cookie policies, but explicit contact points for security incidents or data protection officers are not found. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by publishing more comprehensive security governance documents.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and readiness.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program, including a security.txt file.
  3. Provide contact information for a Data Protection Officer or privacy contact to enhance GDPR compliance.
  4. Regularly review and update WHOIS registration information to ensure domain legitimacy and trust.
  5. Enhance user trust by adding visible trust seals or certifications related to security and privacy.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
UnionLeader.com
Description
UnionLeader.com is a news media website providing news, opinion, sports, and local information primarily focused on New Hampshire and surrounding areas.
Key services
News articles, Subscription services, Advertising, e-Edition access, Event information
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Bootstrap, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA, Amazon Ads, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), TownNews CMS (BLOX)
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
TownNews CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of reCAPTCHA for forms
  • No exposed sensitive data detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Quantcast
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager (DFP), Amazon Ads, Quantcast
Tracking pixels
Quantcast, Crowd Control, ID5 Sync, Prism
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional news media site focused on New Hampshire.
  2. Content is rich with multiple news categories and subscription services.
  3. Uses modern web technologies and ad networks.
  4. No signs of adult or malicious content.
  5. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which is unusual for a news publisher.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including TownNews CMS (BLOX), Bootstrap for responsive design, and integrates multiple advertising and analytics services such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Amazon Ads, and Quantcast. The site is mobile optimized with good accessibility features and SEO practices. Performance is moderate, with some reliance on third-party scripts for ads and tracking. The technical infrastructure is robust for a regional news publisher but could benefit from performance optimizations and clearer hosting provider information.
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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