Skip to main content

Is gcn.ie a Scam? Security Check Results - GCN

gcn.ie favicon

Is gcn.ie Safe? Security Analysis for GCN

https://gcn.ie

Check if gcn.ie is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

MediaIrelandmedium
WordPress 6.8.3jQuerySwiper.jsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager+3 more
Analyzed 10/18/2025Completed 3:36:57 PM
71
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK
Exclusive insights unlocked

Unlock the complete security report for gcn.ie

Get full access to AI recommendations, compliance evidence, vulnerability remediation steps, and downloadable PDF reports. Upgrade once for lifetime access to this scan.

Full Report Access

All modules, AI insights, PDF download

39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

How it works

  1. Enter your email to receive the unlocked report.
  2. Complete the secure EveryPay checkout (cards & local methods supported).
  3. You’ll receive an email with your unique unlock code and the PDF export.

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domaingcn.ie
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

AI Summary

GCN is a well-established Irish LGBTQ+ media organization providing a national monthly free gay magazine, online news, entertainment content, podcasts, and events. It holds a strong market position as Ireland's leading L… Unlock the full Guard report to read the complete analysis.

Detected Technologies

WordPress 6.8.3jQuerySwiper.jsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerFacebook PixelCloudflare DNSAddToAny social sharing
Continuous monitoring

Keep gcn.ie under constant watch

Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

25 €
per month · billed securely via EveryPay

Cancel anytime. Alerts sent to the contacts you choose. Unlock the full report to view historical timelines and alerts.

Unlock the full Guard report to view the monitoring timeline, JSON diffs, and alert history for gcn.ie.

Security Headers

2 findings

90/100

GDPR Compliance

3 findings

68/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

5 findings

70/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Snapshot shown below. Unlock the full AI report for complete market insights, audience profiling, and step-by-step recommendations.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

GCN operates primarily in the media sector targeting the LGBTQ+ community and allies in Ireland. Its business model includes free print and digital magazine distribution, advertising revenue, and subscription services. The company demonstrates strong digital maturity with active social media channels and multimedia content. The domain age and WHOIS data support legitimacy and consistent business history. The partnership ecosystem includes major social media platforms and advertising networks. Growth indicators include recent content updates and award recognitions. Strategic observations suggest focusing on enhancing privacy compliance and security transparency to strengthen user trust.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website maintains a moderate to good security posture with HTTPS enabled and no visible sensitive data leaks. However, it lacks DNSSEC, security headers, and published security or incident response policies. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present, which limits transparency for security researchers. The use of Google reCAPTCHA and third-party analytics is noted, but privacy controls are minimal. Compliance gaps with GDPR cookie consent and privacy policy visibility are evident. The security culture appears functional but could benefit from formalized policies and improved user privacy mechanisms.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Upgrade to the full Guard report to access tailored remediation steps.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

A preview of your strategic observations is visible. Upgrade to unlock the full competitive positioning, trust signals, and branding checklist.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

GCN

Description:

GCN (Gay Community News) is Ireland's national monthly free gay magazine. Pick up a copy, read it online or download our app.

Key Services:
Monthly free gay magazineOnline news and entertainment contentDigital app for magazine accessPodcastsCompetitionsAdvertising services
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
WordPress 6.8.3jQuerySwiper.jsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerFacebook PixelCloudflare DNSAddToAny social sharing
Platforms:
WordPress
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
75/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA
  • No DNSSEC (not enabled)

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerFacebook PixelTwitter Universal Website Tag
Tracking Level:extensive
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Ad Networks:
Google AdSenseAdButlerDoubleClick
Tracking Pixels:
Facebook PixelTwitter Universal Website Tag
Marketing Tools:
Facebook PixelTwitter Ads
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is a well-established LGBTQ+ media outlet in Ireland.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Some header findings are shown. Unlock to see the full checklist, impacted endpoints, and remediation guidance.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

90/100
Score

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "no-referrer-when-downgrade" Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

Preview of GDPR checkpoints is visible. Unlock to reveal full evidence, policy excerpts, and DPIA guidance.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

68/100
Score

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

GDPR Compliance Analysis

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

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

You can see headline NIS2 checks. Upgrade to access the full control mapping, severity breakdown, and remediation plan.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

📧Email Security

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

Quick view of email authentication checks is provided. Unlock to uncover full DNS evidence, record diffs, and fix scripts.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

70/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none" Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No DMARC reporting

LOW

DMARC aggregate reports not configured Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

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 ip4:185.224.198.11 +a +mx include:zoho.eu -all
DNS Lookups:3/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:default(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:k2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:mail(1296-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

This is a teaser of the TLS audit. Unlock to view certificate chains, cipher support tables, and remediation steps.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

75/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 52 days Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Certificate Details

Subject:gcn.ie
Issuer:WE1
Valid Until:12/10/2025 (52 days)
SANs:gcn.ie, *.gcn.ie

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

Unlock the full DNS posture audit to reveal misconfigurations, zone records, and actionable fixes.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

65/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Domain Transfer Lock Not Enabled

MEDIUM

Domain can be transferred without authorization Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
25 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(234 days)
Protection Level
noneDNSSEC OFF
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • No domain protection locks enabled

DNS Records

A Records:172.67.74.211, 104.26.5.104, 104.26.4.104
AAAA Records:2606:4700:20::ac43:4ad3, 2606:4700:20::681a:468, 2606:4700:20::681a:568
Name Servers:
pam.ns.cloudflare.com
walt.ns.cloudflare.com
MX Records:
60: mx.zoho.com
10: mx.spamexperts.com
60: mx3.zoho.com
30: lastmx.spamexperts.net
20: fallbackmx.spamexperts.eu
60: mx2.zoho.com
SOA:Serial: 2383828038, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:57ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 ip4:185.224.198.11 +a +mx include:zoho.eu -all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

See a glimpse of exposed services. Unlock to access full port inventories, CVE lookups, and mitigation priorities.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports Unlock the full report to read the complete fix.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Unlock to view the complete technical breakdown, stack fingerprinting, and hardening checklist.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

Unlock the full Guard report to review the complete technical breakdown and AI recommendations.
⭐ Verified Community Reviews

What others say about gcn.ie

Share your experience to help others make informed decisions. We verify every review by email and publish it once our moderation team approves it.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

out of 5

0 reviews published

Loading reviews…

How did we do?

Your feedback directly shapes our roadmap. Rate the quality of this report, leave an optional comment, and let us know if you want our security specialists 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.

Analyze Another Website