Skip to main content

Security report for zdnet.com

ZDNET · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

ZDNET is a leading technology news and advice website owned by Ziff Davis, providing professionals with up-to-date information on innovations and business technology trends. The site targets IT decision makers and business professionals seeking expert analysis and product reviews. Technically, the website employs modern JavaScript frameworks, advanced analytics, and advertising technologies, ensuring a fast, responsive, and SEO-optimized user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and monitoring tools, though explicit security policies and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly documented. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature digital presence with comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, supporting GDPR compliance. The lack of WHOIS data is likely due to registry restrictions and does not detract from the site's legitimacy.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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. 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

  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

  3. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Potential Subdomain Takeover

      Subdomain api.zdnet.com points to unregistered service internal-zdnet-api-lb01-40895341.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com

      What to do: Remove or fix CNAME record to prevent subdomain takeover

      • WSTG-CONF-10
      • NIS2 21(2)(i)
      • IR 2024/2690 12.4: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 12.4: Asset inventory
      • NIST CM-8: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-8: System Component Inventory

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

Keep watching zdnet.com

This scan found 21 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. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

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
72
Security headers
60
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
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

ZDNET holds a strong market position as a reputable technology media outlet with a large audience. Its business model revolves around content publishing, advertising, and partnerships with analytics and marketing platforms. The company benefits from its parent organization Ziff Davis, leveraging a broad network and resources. The site’s content quality and branding consistency reinforce its credibility. Partnerships with Qualtrics and advertising networks enhance user engagement and monetization. The target audience includes technology professionals and business decision makers, with content tailored to their needs. Growth indicators include extensive use of analytics and marketing tools, suggesting ongoing optimization and audience expansion.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security posture with HTTPS enabled and use of security monitoring tools such as New Relic. Security headers are partially detected via meta tags, though explicit HTTP headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options are not confirmed. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the analyzed content. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and include consent mechanisms, indicating GDPR compliance. However, the absence of a public security policy or incident response contact limits transparency. The site would benefit from publishing a security.txt file and explicit security headers to enhance trust and facilitate vulnerability reporting.

Recommendations

  1. Publish explicit HTTP security headers including X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Provide a publicly accessible security policy and incident response contact information.
  3. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and advertising technologies for security and privacy compliance.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and user data protection measures.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
ZDNET
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ZDNET
Description
ZDNET news and advice keep professionals prepared to embrace innovation and ready to build a better future.
Key services
Technology news, Product reviews, Business advice, Industry analysis
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, New Relic monitoring, Google Tag Manager, DoubleClick, Amazon Ads, Qualtrics, Chartbeat
Frameworks
Vue.js (implied by Nuxt.js SSR meta tags)
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security and monitoring scripts (New Relic)

Analytics and tracking

Services
New Relic, Google Analytics, Chartbeat, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
DoubleClick, Amazon Ads, LiveIntent, BidBarrel
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics (via gtag), Chartbeat, Qualtrics
Marketing tools
Qualtrics, Chartbeat
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a major technology news and advice portal.
  2. Content is professionally curated and updated.
  3. Strong use of analytics and advertising technologies.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are present and compliant.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. WHOIS data is unavailable, possibly due to registry policies.
Technical notes

Notes

ZDNET’s technical infrastructure is modern and robust, utilizing Vue.js/Nuxt.js for server-side rendering and a suite of analytics and advertising technologies including New Relic, Google Tag Manager, DoubleClick, Amazon Ads, and Chartbeat. The site is optimized for performance and mobile responsiveness, with comprehensive SEO meta tags and structured data for enhanced search visibility. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary content management system. The site employs multiple third-party scripts for user tracking and advertising, which should be continuously monitored for security and privacy compliance. Overall, the technical implementation supports a high-quality user experience and scalable content delivery.
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 zdnet.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 zdnet.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.