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Is capitolnewsillinois.com a Scam? Security Check Results - Capitol News Illinois Reviews

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Is capitolnewsillinois.com Safe? Security Analysis for Capitol News Illinois

Check if capitolnewsillinois.com is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

MediaUnited Statesmedium
WordPressYoast SEO PremiumElementorFontAwesomeJetpack+2 more
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 1:47:55 AM
60
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service operated by the Illinois Press Foundation, providing comprehensive coverage of Illinois state government to newspapers, broadcast outlets, and other media. The organization is well-established with a clear market position as a trusted regional news source. Their key services include news reporting, investigative journalism, podcasts, and election coverage, targeting media professionals and Illinois residents interested in state governance. The website demonstrates a consistent brand and excellent content quality, supporting their mission effectively. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins such as Yoast SEO Premium and Elementor, ensuring good SEO and mobile responsiveness. Hosting and domain registration are managed by reputable providers, though DNSSEC is not enabled, which could be improved. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with good SSL configuration and some security headers, but lacks a cookie consent mechanism and some recommended security headers. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is good with a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service, though cookie consent and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are absent. Overall, the site is trustworthy and professionally maintained with minor areas for improvement. Strategically, the site should focus on enhancing privacy compliance by implementing cookie consent, enabling DNSSEC, and publishing a security.txt file to improve vulnerability disclosure. These steps will strengthen their security posture and user trust while maintaining their strong business credibility and content quality.

Detected Technologies

WordPressYoast SEO PremiumElementorFontAwesomeJetpackPhotoswipeSwiper

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Capitol News Illinois occupies a niche as a nonprofit media organization focused on Illinois state government news, serving media outlets and the public. Their business model relies on nonprofit funding and donations, supported by a transparent donor list and editorial independence policies. The organization benefits from a strong partnership with the Illinois Press Foundation and maintains a multi-channel presence including social media and podcasts. Their competitive advantage lies in specialized, nonpartisan coverage and investigative journalism. Growth indicators include active content updates, event hosting, and engagement with political and civic topics. The company operates with a medium-sized team and maintains a professional digital presence aligned with its mission.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Email Addresses (1)

e*****@capitolnewsillinois.com

Phone Numbers (2)

217*******
217*******

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS enabled and good SSL configuration. Security headers are partially implemented, and no critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. However, the absence of DNSSEC and a cookie consent mechanism indicates room for improvement in domain security and privacy compliance. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could hinder rapid mitigation of security issues. The site uses reputable third-party services and plugins, reducing risk exposure. Overall, the security culture appears responsible but could benefit from enhanced transparency and compliance measures.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Capitol News Illinois

Description:

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. A service of the Illinois Press Foundation.

Key Services:
News coveragePress releasesPodcastsElection resultsInvestigative journalism
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
WordPressYoast SEO PremiumElementorFontAwesomeJetpackPhotoswipeSwiper
Frameworks:
WordPress
Platforms:
Web
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security-related meta tags
  • No visible vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Jetpack StatsWordPress.com Stats
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Jetpack StatsWordPress.com Stats
Marketing Tools:
Mailchimp (list-manage.com for subscriptions)
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is a nonprofit news service focused on Illinois state government.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

30/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

53/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

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 Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
emailphone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
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

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

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 include:_spf.capitolnewsillinois_com._d.easydmarc.pro ~all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:selector1(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:f8736ad3bd@rua.easydmarc.us
Forensic Reports:f8736ad3bd@ruf.easydmarc.us

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

42/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 67 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
6 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(103 days)
Protection Level
strongDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:192.0.78.216, 192.0.78.171
Name Servers:
ns37.domaincontrol.com
ns38.domaincontrol.com
MX Records:
0: capitolnewsillinois-com.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2024092004, TTL: 600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:67ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.capitolnewsillinois_com._d.easydmarc.pro ~all

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 is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using Elementor for page building and Yoast SEO Premium for search engine optimization. It employs standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript libraries such as FontAwesome, Swiper, and Photoswipe. The site is hosted with a reputable registrar and uses domaincontrol.com nameservers, likely indicating GoDaddy hosting infrastructure. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and SEO metadata implemented. Accessibility features are basic but present. The site uses Jetpack for stats and sharing, and Mailchimp for email subscriptions. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated technologies, but enabling DNSSEC and improving security headers would enhance the technical robustness.
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