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Is rferl.org a Scam? Security Check Results - RFE/RL Reviews

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Is rferl.org Safe? Security Analysis for RFE/RL

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

MediaN/alarge
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerMicrosoft ClarityOneSignalYouTube iframe API+5 more
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 12:15:27 PM
68
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a large, reputable international news organization providing journalism in 27 languages across 23 countries, focusing on regions with restricted press freedom. The website demonstrates a professional and consistent brand presence with high-quality content including news, analysis, videos, podcasts, and photo galleries. The technical infrastructure employs modern analytics and marketing technologies, ensuring good performance and mobile optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and security headers, though explicit security policies and incident response information are not published. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant. Overall, the website is trustworthy and well-maintained, serving a general audience with safe content.

Detected Technologies

Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerMicrosoft ClarityOneSignalYouTube iframe APITealiumScorecardResearchFacebook PixelChartbeatCrazy Egg

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

RFE/RL operates as an essential media entity with a business model centered on international journalism and news dissemination. It holds a strong market position as a leading source of news in regions where free press is limited. The organization leverages partnerships with related domains such as currenttime.tv and is affiliated with the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Its revenue streams likely include government funding and grants typical for public interest media. The target audience is broad, encompassing global users interested in unbiased news from restricted regions. The company maintains a large workforce of journalists and freelancers, indicating significant operational scale.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, presence of security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, it lacks publicly available security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, which are recommended best practices. The use of multiple third-party analytics and marketing scripts necessitates ongoing security audits to mitigate risks. Privacy compliance is addressed through clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. Overall, the security maturity is good but can be enhanced by publishing explicit security governance documentation.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and trust.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

RFE/RL

Description:

RFE/RL has more than 700 full-time journalists and 1,300 freelancers reporting the news in 27 languages in 23 countries. We operate where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established and provide what many people cannot get locally.

Key Services:
news reportinganalysisvideospodcastsphoto galleries
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerMicrosoft ClarityOneSignalYouTube iframe APITealiumScorecardResearchFacebook PixelChartbeatCrazy Egg
Platforms:
web
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of analytics with consent mechanisms

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsMicrosoft ClarityChartbeatCrazy Egg
Tracking Level:extensive
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Ad Networks:
ScorecardResearchCrazy Egg
Tracking Pixels:
Facebook PixelMicrosoft ClarityChartbeat
Marketing Tools:
TealiumOneSignal
Transparency Level:good

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 professional news media outlet with extensive content and multimedia.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

50/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

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

35/100
Score

No Privacy Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

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

Third-party services without privacy policy

HIGH

Detected services: Google Analytics, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy0% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️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

85/100
Score

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 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com mx:rferl.goolara.net a:exchange.rferl.org include:servers.mcsv.net -all
DNS Lookups:6/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:selector1(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:selector2(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:dmarc_agg@vali.email
Forensic Reports:abuse.dmarc@rferl.org

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

95/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 75 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:www.rferl.org
Issuer:R12
Valid Until:11/20/2025 (75 days)
SANs:audio.rferl.org, config-exception.rferl.mobi, da.azadiradio.com +94 more

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

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
33 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(124 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:95.101.23.88, 95.101.23.81
AAAA Records:2a02:26f0:41::216:1fab, 2a02:26f0:41::216:1f0b
Name Servers:
jasper.ns.cloudflare.com
kelly.ns.cloudflare.com
MX Records:
0: rferl-org.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2382196857, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:53ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com mx:rferl.goolara.net a:exchange.rferl.org include:servers.mcsv.net -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 uses a custom CMS with versioning indicating active maintenance. It integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, Tealium, and OneSignal for push notifications. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, likely due to the volume of multimedia content and third-party scripts. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. Hosting provider details are not explicit, but the site uses CDN and external services for content delivery and tracking. Technical risks include dependency on multiple third-party scripts which require continuous security monitoring.
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