Skip to main content

Security report for usnews.com

U.S. News & World Report · Media · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

66/100

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

U.S. News & World Report operates as a leading media company specializing in news, rankings, and analysis across politics, education, healthcare, and other sectors. The website serves a broad audience seeking authoritative information and rankings, positioning itself as a trusted source in the media industry. The business model is primarily advertising and subscription-based, leveraging its brand recognition and comprehensive content offerings. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including React, jQuery, and integrates advanced analytics and consent management tools such as Google Tag Manager, Tealium, and OneTrust. Hosting and content delivery are supported by Akamai, ensuring reliable performance and security. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and SEO practices, though accessibility features could be enhanced. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS with strong SSL configurations and implements key security headers. Consent management for cookies aligns with GDPR compliance, though explicit security policies and incident response information are not prominently available. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. Overall, the website presents a low risk profile with strong business credibility and technical maturity. Recommendations include publishing detailed security and incident response policies, improving accessibility, and enhancing transparency around data retention and security contacts.

Scanned

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

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  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 usnews.com

This scan found 11 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

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
0
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
66

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

U.S. News & World Report holds a strong market position as a reputable media and information provider, particularly known for its rankings in education, healthcare, and finance sectors. Its competitive advantage lies in authoritative content and trusted rankings that attract a wide audience. Revenue streams likely include advertising, subscriptions, and partnerships. The target customer segments are general consumers, students, professionals, and policy makers. Growth indicators include extensive digital presence and integration of modern marketing and analytics tools. The partnership ecosystem includes major advertising and analytics providers, supporting monetization and user engagement strategies.

Security posture

The security maturity of the website is solid, with HTTPS enforced and comprehensive security headers implemented. The use of consent management tools indicates compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR. However, the absence of publicly available security policies, incident response plans, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms suggests room for improvement in transparency and readiness. No evidence of malware, phishing, or exposed credentials was found. The security culture appears focused on compliance and user privacy, but could benefit from enhanced communication and documented procedures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and trust.
  2. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  3. Enhance website accessibility to meet higher standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate potential security risks.
  5. Provide clear contact information for security and privacy inquiries to facilitate communication.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
U.S. News & World Report
Description
US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.
Key services
News reporting, Rankings (colleges, hospitals, mutual funds, cars), Political tracking, Health condition research
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Consent Management, Akamai, Tealium, Prebid.js
Frameworks
React
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • Consent management for cookies

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager), Tealium
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Tealium
Marketing tools
Tealium, OneTrust
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 not blocked by WAF.
  2. No WHOIS data available from raw output, likely due to registry restrictions.
  3. Strong use of modern web technologies and consent management.
  4. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies present.
  5. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in provided content.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page detected.
  7. No explicit security or incident response policy found on main page.
  8. Website is professionally designed with high content quality and trust signals.
  9. Extensive use of third-party analytics and advertising scripts.
  10. No adult or NSFW content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website infrastructure is modern and robust, utilizing React for frontend rendering and integrating multiple third-party services for analytics, consent management, and advertising. Hosting via Akamai ensures performance and security benefits. The site is mobile-optimized and SEO-friendly, with proper meta tags and structured data markup. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in script loading and accessibility enhancements. Technical risks include reliance on numerous third-party scripts which require ongoing security monitoring. Overall, the technical implementation supports the business goals effectively with opportunities for incremental improvements.
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. 66/100Medium16 findings · partial scanView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with usnews.com. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review usnews.com.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.