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Security report for wirecutter.com

Wirecutter · Media · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

Wirecutter is a prominent product review and buying advice website owned by The New York Times, targeting consumers seeking trusted recommendations on technology, appliances, home goods, and more. The site leverages veteran journalists and experts to provide comprehensive, well-researched content, positioning itself as a leader in the consumer media space. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including React with Next.js, uses a CDN (Fastly) for performance, and integrates advanced analytics and privacy consent frameworks, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and privacy consent managed via Fides, though explicit security headers should be confirmed. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with privacy regulations, with no signs of blocking or WAF interference.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

2 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 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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching wirecutter.com

This scan found 14 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
  • 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
82
Security headers
70
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
83

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention wirecutter.com, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for wirecutter.com right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Wirecutter operates within the media sector, focusing on affiliate marketing and advertising revenue streams. Its competitive advantage lies in its affiliation with The New York Times, high-quality content, and extensive product testing. The business model is content-driven, monetized through affiliate links and advertising partnerships. The target audience includes general consumers interested in making informed purchasing decisions. The site demonstrates strong branding consistency and a broad content offering across multiple home and tech categories. Partnerships with major social media platforms and use of advanced marketing tools indicate a sophisticated marketing ecosystem.

Security posture

The website exhibits a high security maturity level with enforced HTTPS, use of Google Tag Manager with authentication, and embedded privacy consent mechanisms. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, explicit presence of security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options was not confirmed and should be verified. The site lacks publicly disclosed incident response or vulnerability disclosure pages, which could be areas for improvement. GDPR compliance is indicated via consent banners and scripts. Overall, the security posture is robust for a media website, with minor recommendations for header enhancements and ongoing third-party script monitoring.

Recommendations

  1. Verify and explicitly implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a dedicated vulnerability disclosure or security contact page to enhance transparency and incident response readiness.
  3. Continue monitoring third-party scripts for vulnerabilities and ensure integrity attributes are used where possible.
  4. Enhance visibility of privacy policies and terms of service with direct links accessible from all pages.
  5. Consider publishing data retention policies and detailed GDPR compliance documentation.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Wirecutter
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Wirecutter
Description
Wirecutter tests and reviews the best tech, appliances, gear, and more. You can trust our veteran journalists, scientists, and experts to find the best stuff.
Key services
Product reviews, Buying guides, Deals and recommendations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React (Next.js), Google Tag Manager, Chartbeat, IterateHQ, Fastly CDN, Web fonts (woff2), Fides privacy framework
Frameworks
Next.js
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google Tag Manager with authentication tokens
  • Privacy consent management via Fides
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Chartbeat, Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Outbrain
Tracking pixels
Chartbeat, Facebook Connect
Marketing tools
IterateHQ
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation.
  2. No WHOIS data available, indicating privacy protection or registrar masking.
  3. Strong branding and affiliation with The New York Times.
  4. Comprehensive product review content with structured data for SEO.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and privacy consent frameworks.
  6. No security or content blocking detected.
  7. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on main page.
  8. Privacy and cookie policies are implemented via embedded consent mechanisms.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React-based framework (Next.js) with server-side rendering and static generation for performance. It uses Fastly CDN for content delivery and integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools including Chartbeat, Google Analytics, Facebook Connect, and Outbrain. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and preloaded fonts for fast rendering. Accessibility features appear adequate, and SEO is enhanced through structured data (JSON-LD) and Open Graph tags. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary content management solution. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern, performant, and scalable, 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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 84/100Low19 findingsView report
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