Skip to main content

Security report for zambianobserver.com

The Zambian Observer · Media · Zambia

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

53/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Zambian Observer is a regional news media website focused on delivering the latest news from Zambia and around the world. Established in 2015, it operates on a WordPress platform hosted by InMotion Hosting and leverages popular advertising and analytics tools such as Google AdSense, Google Analytics, Taboola, and Criteo. The site targets a general audience interested in news and current affairs, providing content primarily in English. The business model centers on online news publishing with revenue generated through advertising networks. The website demonstrates good content quality, consistent branding, and a professional design optimized for mobile devices.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
70/ 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. 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.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  2. 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching zambianobserver.com

This scan found 25 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

€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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
70
Average
53

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 website holds a moderate market position as a regional news outlet for Zambia, serving a medium-sized audience. It benefits from a clear business model focused on content monetization through ads and partnerships with major ad networks. The use of structured data and SEO plugins indicates an effort to maintain visibility and search engine ranking. However, the absence of explicit privacy and cookie policies may impact user trust and compliance with data protection regulations. Social media presence is indicated but links are placeholders, suggesting potential areas for growth in audience engagement and marketing.

Security posture

The site enforces HTTPS and has domain transfer protections in place, which are positive security indicators. However, the lack of DNSSEC, minimal security headers, and absence of a security.txt file highlight areas for improvement. The WordPress CMS and associated plugins require regular updates and hardening to mitigate vulnerabilities. No critical security issues or blocking mechanisms were detected, but the site would benefit from enhanced security policies and headers to protect against common web threats. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing policies and consent mechanisms, which could expose the site to regulatory risks.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with clear GDPR compliance statements.
  2. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection.
  4. Create and maintain a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosure and incident response.
  5. Regularly audit and update WordPress core, themes, and plugins to reduce vulnerability exposure.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Zambian Observer
Description
The Zambian Observer - Latest News from Zambia
Key services
news publishing, online news content
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Google AdSense, Taboola, Criteo
Frameworks
All in One SEO, Jetpack
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Ad networks
Google AdSense, Taboola, Criteo
Tracking pixels
Taboola, Criteo
Marketing tools
Site Kit by Google
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress-based news media platform focused on Zambia and world news.
  2. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found in the provided content.
  3. Site uses multiple advertising and tracking services including Google AdSense, Taboola, and Criteo.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the provided HTML content.
  5. Security headers are minimal; HTTPS is enabled and enforced.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy detected.
  7. Site is mobile optimized and uses modern web fonts and SEO plugins.
  8. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected; content is fully accessible.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern WordPress CMS with popular SEO and analytics plugins, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. Hosting by InMotion Hosting provides reliable performance, though the site performance is moderate and could be optimized further. Mobile optimization is good, ensuring accessibility across devices. The site uses multiple external resources including Google Fonts and advertising/tracking scripts, which may impact load times and privacy. Accessibility features are basic, and SEO optimization is good due to structured data and meta tags. Technical debt is minimal but security enhancements are recommended to reduce risk.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with zambianobserver.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 zambianobserver.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.