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Is altervista.org a Scam? Security Check Results - Mondadori Media Spa Reviews

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Is altervista.org Safe? Security Analysis for Mondadori Media Spa

https://altervista.org

Check if altervista.org is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyItalylarge
JavaScriptSwiper.jsRellax.jsGoogle Tag ManagerNielsen tracking
Analyzed 10/4/2025Completed 2:43:41 AM
64
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Altervista.org is a well-established platform owned by Mondadori Media Spa, offering free website and blog creation services primarily targeting individuals and small businesses interested in online presence and monetization. The platform emphasizes ease of use, unlimited hosting space, WordPress compatibility, and monetization options such as Google Adsense and affiliate marketing. It holds a strong market position in Italy, especially in the food blogging niche, with a history dating back to 2000. Technically, the website employs modern JavaScript libraries including Swiper.js and Rellax.js for UI enhancements, integrates Google Tag Manager and Nielsen tracking for analytics, and is optimized for mobile devices with good SEO and accessibility practices. The site uses HTTPS with excellent SSL configuration, though security headers are not explicitly detected in the provided data. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices such as secure login mechanisms and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, with clear user consent mechanisms. However, the WHOIS data is malformed and incomplete, which raises some concerns about domain registration transparency, though the website content and branding strongly indicate legitimacy. Overall, Altervista.org presents a professional, trustworthy, and user-friendly platform with a solid business model and technical foundation. Strategic improvements in security header implementation and enhanced transparency in domain registration would further strengthen its security posture and trustworthiness.

Detected Technologies

JavaScriptSwiper.jsRellax.jsGoogle Tag ManagerNielsen tracking

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Altervista operates as a free hosting and blogging platform under the umbrella of Mondadori Media Spa, a large Italian media company. Its competitive advantage lies in offering free, unlimited hosting with WordPress integration and monetization tools, appealing to content creators and bloggers, particularly in Italy. Revenue streams likely include advertising partnerships and premium services. The platform's ecosystem includes strong social media presence and user testimonials, reinforcing community trust. Growth indicators include sustained operation since 2000 and a significant share in the Italian food blogging market. Partnerships with advertising networks like Google Adsense and tracking services like Nielsen enhance monetization and analytics capabilities.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, secure login flows, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. Privacy policies and cookie consent mechanisms align with GDPR requirements, indicating compliance awareness. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options suggests room for improvement. The lack of a published security policy or vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency in incident response readiness. The malformed WHOIS data reduces domain registration trust signals, though this may be due to registry query issues rather than intentional obfuscation. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by adopting additional best practices and transparency measures.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and verify HTTP security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Mondadori Media Spa

Description:

Altervista offers free website and blog creation services with monetization options. It targets users who want to create websites or blogs quickly and easily, with unlimited space and WordPress support.

Key Services:
Free website/blog hostingWordPress managed hostingMonetization via ads and affiliate programsCustomizable themes and plugins
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
JavaScriptSwiper.jsRellax.jsGoogle Tag ManagerNielsen tracking
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure login links
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Tag ManagerNielsen Online SiteCensus
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Ad Networks:
Google Adsense
Tracking Pixels:
Nielsen Online SiteCensus
Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

30/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

68/100
Score

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: transport, banking, digital

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

70/100
Score

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 redirect=_spf.ml.altervista.org

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

85/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 83 days

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

2 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:it.altervista.org
Issuer:Amazon RSA 2048 M02
Valid Until:12/26/2025 (83 days)
SANs:it.altervista.org, en.altervista.org

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

75/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

No DMARC Record

MEDIUM

DMARC policy not configured

DNS Records

A Records:52.49.51.252, 63.35.4.242, 52.17.253.37
Name Servers:
ns1.altervista.orgDNS only
ns2.altervista.orgDNS only
ns3.altervista.orgDNS only
ns4.altervista.orgDNS only
MX Records:
20: mail2.altervista.org
10: mail.altervista.org

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website uses a modern front-end technology stack with JavaScript libraries such as Swiper.js for carousels and Rellax.js for parallax effects, enhancing user experience. Google Tag Manager and Nielsen scripts provide analytics and audience measurement. The site is WordPress-based, leveraging its CMS capabilities for content management and hosting. Performance optimizations include Google Core Web Vitals focus and caching mechanisms. Mobile responsiveness and accessibility are well addressed. However, the absence of detected security headers and incomplete WHOIS data indicate areas for technical improvement. Hosting provider details are not explicitly disclosed, which could be clarified for transparency.
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