Is citynews.ca Safe? Security Analysis for CityNews
Check if citynews.ca is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.
AI Summary
CityNews is a Canadian regional and local news media network providing breaking news, traffic, weather, and national coverage across multiple cities via dedicated subdomains. The website is built on WordPress with modern SEO and structured data implementations, indicating a mature digital presence. The technical infrastructure includes common plugins and third-party services for social sharing and advertising, with HTTPS enforced and no visible security vulnerabilities. However, the site lacks visible privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies, as well as explicit contact information, which are areas for improvement. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy but could enhance compliance and security transparency.
Detected Technologies
🧠AI Business Intelligence
Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.
Business Intelligence
Market & Strategic Analysis
CityNews operates as a large media entity focused on Canadian local and national news, targeting a general audience. Its business model revolves around news content delivery, advertising, and regional engagement through city-specific portals. The presence of multiple city subdomains suggests a decentralized content strategy to cater to local markets. The use of common advertising and marketing tools indicates monetization through ads and promotions. The lack of detailed business registration or contact info on the landing page limits deeper business intelligence but the brand is well established in Canadian media.
Security Posture Analysis
Comprehensive Security Assessment
The website demonstrates a good security posture with HTTPS enforced and no exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries detected. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided, which could hinder rapid response to security events. The lack of privacy and cookie policies also indicates compliance gaps. Overall, the security maturity is moderate with room for improvement in policy transparency and header implementation.
Strategic Recommendations
Priority Actions for Security Improvement
Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear GDPR compliance statements and consent mechanisms.
✨Observations
AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.
AI-Enhanced Website Analysis
Business Insights
CityNews
Local breaking news, traffic and weather, live updates and headlines. National news, business, lifestyle, politics. CityNews, Everywhere.
good
consistent
Technical Stack
moderate
good
basic
good
Security Assessment
- HTTPS enforced
- No visible exposed sensitive data
- No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts
Analytics & Tracking
Advertising & Marketing
Website Quality Assessment
Key Observations
Website is a regional/local news portal with multiple city-specific subdomains
🛡️Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.
Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis
Missing Strict-Transport-Security header
HIGHForces HTTPS connections
Missing X-Content-Type-Options header
MEDIUMPrevents MIME type sniffing
Missing Content-Security-Policy header
HIGHControls resources the browser is allowed to load
Missing X-XSS-Protection header
MEDIUMLegacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)
Missing Referrer-Policy header
LOWControls referrer information sent with requests
Missing Permissions-Policy header
MEDIUMControls browser features and APIs
Sensitive data may be cached
LOWCache-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
No Privacy Policy found
HIGHGDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy
No Cookie Policy found
HIGHGDPR requires clear information about cookie usage
No Cookie Consent Banner found
HIGHGDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies
GDPR Compliance Analysis
🛡️NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.
NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive
No information security framework found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures
No vulnerability disclosure policy
MEDIUMNIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure
No security policy documentation found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management
No incident response procedures found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans
No business continuity planning found
MEDIUMNIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity
No security contact information
HIGHNIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels
No vulnerability reporting mechanism
MEDIUMClear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure
No NIS2 reference found
LOWConsider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts
Critical sector without clear security compliance
HIGHDetected sectors: transport, digital
📧Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.
Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation
DMARC not enforcing
MEDIUMDMARC policy is set to "none"
No BIMI Record
LOWBIMI displays brand logos in email clients
No MTA-STS Policy
MEDIUMMTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery
No TLS-RPT Record
LOWTLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues
SPF Details
DKIM Selectors Found
DMARC Details
🏆SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis.
SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis
Weak Protocols Supported
HIGHServer supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1
Certificate Transparency Not Implemented
LOWCertificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs
Weak SSL Key Length
HIGHSSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak
Mixed Content Detected
MEDIUM1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP
Partial SSL/TLS Assessment
LOWCompleted 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints
Protocol Support
OCSP Status
📊DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment.
DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment
DNSSEC Not Enabled
MEDIUMDNSSEC is not configured for this domain
CAA Records Not Configured
LOWCertificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found
Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled
LOWDomain can be deleted without additional verification
DMARC Policy Set to None
LOWDMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy
Domain Registration Details
DNS Records
DNSSEC Status
DNS Performance
SPF Analysis
⚡Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis.
Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis
Good Network Security Posture
LOWNo unnecessary services detected on common risky ports
🔧Technical Analysis
Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.
Technical Analysis
Comprehensive security assessment findings