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Security report for writingatlarge.com

Automattic Inc. · Other · United States

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Writing at Large is a personal blog focused on creative pursuits such as writing, sketching, running, and travel. The site is hosted on the WordPress.com platform, with Automattic Inc. as the registrar and hosting provider, indicating a stable and reputable technical infrastructure. The blog features rich content with recent posts and high-quality images, targeting individuals interested in lifestyle and creative arts. Technically, the site uses WordPress with Jetpack and Google Fonts, providing a modern and responsive user experience. However, there are gaps in privacy compliance, as no privacy or cookie policies were found, and no consent mechanisms are implemented. Security posture is moderate with HTTPS enabled but lacks DNSSEC and security headers. Overall, the domain registration is consistent and trustworthy, with no suspicious indicators.

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

8 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. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • High

      No DMARC record found

      DMARC provides email authentication and reporting

      What to do: Add DMARC record: "v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com"

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

Keep watching writingatlarge.com

This scan found 23 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
32
Security headers
30
Email security
65
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
61

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 blog operates as a niche content publisher within the creative lifestyle segment, leveraging WordPress.com's infrastructure for hosting and content management. The business model appears to be personal or hobbyist blogging without direct commercial transactions. The target audience includes creative individuals interested in writing, art, and running. The site benefits from Automattic's brand trust and platform reliability but lacks formal business contact information or compliance documentation. Growth indicators include regular content updates and engagement via subscription widgets. The partnership ecosystem is limited to WordPress.com and related services.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain status set to clientTransferProhibited, preventing unauthorized domain transfers. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No incident response or security policy information is published, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present. Forms on the site collect email addresses for subscriptions but lack visible advanced security measures. Overall, the site is secure for its purpose but could improve compliance and security best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  2. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  3. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve browser security.
  4. Provide clear contact information or a contact form for business or security inquiries to enhance trust and incident response readiness.
  5. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Automattic Inc.
Description
A personal blog focused on writing, sketching, running, and related lifestyle topics.
Key services
Blog content on writing, sketching, running, travel, art, and personal experiences.
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Jetpack, Google Fonts, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress.com
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
WordPress.com internal analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
WordPress.com platform scripts
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a personal blog hosted on WordPress.com platform.
  2. Content is rich with recent posts and images related to writing, sketching, and lifestyle.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the site.
  5. Uses standard WordPress and Jetpack scripts and styles.
  6. No security headers detected in the provided data; DNSSEC not enabled.
  7. Domain registration and hosting are consistent and trustworthy.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS hosted by WordPress.com, utilizing Jetpack plugins and Google Fonts for typography. The site loads asynchronously loaded JavaScript for emoji support and social widgets. CSS is minified and served efficiently. The site is mobile responsive with good navigation clarity and SEO meta tags including Open Graph tags for social sharing. Performance is moderate with no evident blocking scripts. Accessibility is basic but present with screen-reader text and semantic HTML. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, though some security enhancements are recommended.
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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