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Security report for wnyc.org

WNYC · Media · United States

Medium risk. 4 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

WNYC is a leading public radio station in the United States, operating under New York Public Radio. It offers a wide range of award-winning programs, podcasts, and live streaming radio services targeting a general audience interested in news, culture, and public affairs. The website reflects a mature digital presence with a modern tech stack including Ember.js and integration with major analytics and advertising platforms. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and content security policies, though some security headers and explicit privacy compliance mechanisms could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data is due to privacy protection, which is justified for this type of organization. Overall, WNYC demonstrates a professional, trustworthy, and content-rich platform with a strong brand and market position.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

4 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"

  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 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 wnyc.org

This scan found 20 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
67
Security headers
65
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
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

WNYC operates as a non-profit media entity with a diversified portfolio including multiple subsidiary media sites such as Gothamist and WQXR. Its business model focuses on public radio broadcasting, podcast production, and cultural programming. The organization targets a broad audience in the New York metropolitan area and beyond, leveraging digital platforms for content distribution. Partnerships and sister sites enhance its reach and influence. The website's content and branding consistency reinforce its market leadership and trustworthiness in the public media sector.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and a content security policy, indicating a good baseline security posture. Integration of Google reCAPTCHA and absence of exposed sensitive data are positive indicators. However, the lack of explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options, no visible vulnerability disclosure or incident response contacts, and missing cookie consent mechanisms highlight areas for improvement. The security score is good but could be enhanced by adopting these best practices to strengthen defense-in-depth and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate clickjacking and MIME sniffing risks.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Provide clear contact information for security incidents and data protection inquiries.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks and optimize performance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
WNYC
Description
WNYC is America's most listened-to public radio station and the producer of award-winning programs and podcasts like Radiolab, On the Media, and The Brian Lehrer Show.
Key services
Public radio broadcasting, Podcast production, Live streaming radio, News and cultural programming
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Ember.js, Google Tag Manager, Facebook SDK, Hotjar, Quantcast, Google Analytics, DoubleClick, Google Captcha
Frameworks
Ember.js
Platforms
Web, Mobile (iOS and Android apps referenced)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA
  • Content Security Policy meta tag present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Chartbeat, Quantcast, Hotjar
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick, Quantcast
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, Quantcast
Marketing tools
Facebook SDK
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a major public radio station with extensive content and podcast offerings
  2. No WHOIS data available due to malformed WHOIS response
  3. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content
  4. No visible cookie consent banner or explicit privacy policy page link found in homepage HTML
  5. Strong use of modern web technologies and analytics tools
  6. No signs of adult or NSFW content
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page detected
  8. No visible terms of service page found
  9. Multiple social media Facebook pages referenced in meta tags
  10. Content is rich, well-structured, and professionally presented
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Ember.js, a modern JavaScript framework, and integrates multiple analytics and advertising services including Google Tag Manager, Facebook SDK, Hotjar, and Quantcast. The site is mobile optimized with good SEO practices and accessibility features, though accessibility could be further enhanced. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by the number of third-party scripts. The site does not appear to use a traditional CMS, suggesting a custom or headless architecture. Hosting provider details are not explicitly found. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust and scalable media platform but could benefit from performance tuning and enhanced accessibility compliance.
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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