Is news.com.au Safe? Security Analysis for news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site for latest headlines
Check if news.com.au is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.
AI Summary
news.com.au is a leading Australian news website providing comprehensive coverage across sports, entertainment, finance, politics, and national breaking news. It targets a broad Australian audience seeking timely and reliable news content. The site is positioned as a major media outlet in Australia with a large content offering and strong brand presence. Technically, the website leverages modern web technologies including WordPress CMS, advanced JavaScript libraries, CDN delivery via Akamai, and performance monitoring tools like SpeedCurve LUX. The infrastructure supports fast loading times and good mobile responsiveness, enhancing user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit privacy and cookie policies are not detected in the provided content. Advertising and tracking are implemented using industry-standard tools such as DoubleClick and Outbrain, with extensive user tracking. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature digital presence with high professionalism and trustworthiness, though improvements in privacy transparency and contact information visibility are recommended.
Detected Technologies
🧠AI Business Intelligence
Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.
Business Intelligence
Market & Strategic Analysis
The website operates in the media sector, focusing on news publishing with a business model centered on advertising and content monetization. It serves a large Australian audience with diverse news categories, indicating a broad market reach. The site benefits from partnerships with advertising networks and content recommendation platforms. Competitive advantages include brand recognition, extensive content breadth, and integration of modern digital marketing tools. Revenue streams likely include display advertising, sponsored content, and subscription services. The company ecosystem includes social media channels for audience engagement. Growth indicators are positive given the site's large scale and technological investments. Strategic observations suggest focusing on enhancing privacy compliance and incident response transparency to maintain market trust.
Security Posture Analysis
Comprehensive Security Assessment
The security maturity of news.com.au is solid, with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implied by the content. The site uses modern authentication mechanisms and content delivery networks to protect and optimize content delivery. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit privacy policies, cookie consent banners, and incident response contact details indicates gaps in compliance and transparency. There is no evidence of a published vulnerability disclosure policy or security certifications. The site should improve in these areas to align with GDPR and other regulatory requirements. Incident response readiness is unclear due to lack of contact channels. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by formalizing privacy and security governance documentation.
Strategic Recommendations
Priority Actions for Security Improvement
Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to improve compliance and user trust.
✨Observations
AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.
AI-Enhanced Website Analysis
Business Insights
news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site for latest headlines
Read the latest headlines covering sports, entertainment, finance, politics and national breaking news. Be on it with Australia's leading news site.
excellent
consistent
Technical Stack
fast
good
good
good
Security Assessment
- HTTPS enforced
- Use of modern JS libraries with async/defer
- No exposed sensitive data in HTML
- Authentication via Rampart
- Use of CSP and referrer policies
Analytics & Tracking
Advertising & Marketing
Website Quality Assessment
Key Observations
Website is a major Australian news portal with extensive content and categories
🛡️Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.
Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis
Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration
LOWCurrent value: "max-age=600 ; includeSubDomains"
Missing X-Frame-Options header
HIGHPrevents clickjacking attacks
Missing X-Content-Type-Options header
MEDIUMPrevents MIME type sniffing
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
👤GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.
GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment
No Cookie Consent Banner found
HIGHGDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies
No Data Protection Officer mentioned
LOWLarge organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR
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
📧Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.
Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation
Complex SPF record
LOWToo many include statements can cause lookup limits
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
Mixed Content Detected
MEDIUM1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP
Partial SSL/TLS Assessment
LOWCompleted 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints
Certificate Details
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
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