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Is techcrunch.com a Scam? Security Check Results - TechCrunch Reviews

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Is techcrunch.com Safe? Security Analysis for TechCrunch

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

TechnologyUnited Stateslarge
WordPress CMSYoast SEO pluginGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsLinkedIn Insight Tag+4 more
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 8:14:18 PM
72
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

TechCrunch is a well-established online media company specializing in technology news, startup coverage, and venture capital funding insights. Founded in 2005, it holds a strong market position as a leading technology news platform with a large, engaged audience including tech enthusiasts, investors, and startup founders. The website offers a variety of content formats including articles, podcasts, newsletters, and events such as TechCrunch Disrupt. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern SEO and analytics tools integrated, ensuring good performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implied, though DNSSEC is not enabled and explicit security policies are not published. Privacy compliance is basic, lacking visible privacy and cookie policies or consent mechanisms. Overall, the site demonstrates high business credibility and professionalism but could improve transparency in privacy and security disclosures.

Detected Technologies

WordPress CMSYoast SEO pluginGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsLinkedIn Insight TagFacebook PixelreCAPTCHAParsely analyticsCloudflare DNS and likely CDN

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

TechCrunch operates as a major player in the technology media sector, leveraging a content-driven business model supported by advertising, events, and sponsored content. Its competitive advantage lies in its brand recognition, comprehensive coverage of the tech ecosystem, and diversified content offerings. The company targets a broad audience from industry professionals to general tech consumers. Partnerships with related sites like StrictlyVC and Crunchboard expand its ecosystem. Revenue streams likely include advertising, event sponsorships, and premium content. Growth indicators include continuous content updates, event hosting, and strong social media presence. The company maintains a professional digital footprint with consistent branding and a large content repository.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain registration protections in place. Use of reCAPTCHA and security-related scripts indicates attention to bot mitigation and form security. However, the absence of DNSSEC and lack of published security policies or incident response contacts represent gaps in transparency and defense-in-depth. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The site could benefit from publishing a security.txt file and explicit vulnerability disclosure guidelines to enhance trust and readiness. Overall, the security maturity is good but not comprehensive.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Enable DNSSEC to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

TechCrunch

Description:

TechCrunch | Reporting on the business of technology, startups, venture capital funding, and Silicon Valley

Key Services:
Technology news reportingStartup coverageVenture capital funding newsEvent hosting (e.g., TechCrunch Disrupt)PodcastsNewslettersPartner content and brand studio
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
WordPress CMSYoast SEO pluginGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsLinkedIn Insight TagFacebook PixelreCAPTCHAParsely analyticsCloudflare DNS and likely CDN
Frameworks:
WordPressYoast SEO
Platforms:
Web
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

excellent

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of reCAPTCHA for forms
  • Use of security-related scripts
  • Domain status includes client and server prohibitions (delete, transfer, update)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsParselyLinkedIn InsightFacebook PixelHubSpot
Tracking Level:extensive
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Ad Networks:
Google Ad ManagerServenobidSail HorizonScorecard ResearchHelloBarATM TD
Tracking Pixels:
LinkedIn InsightFacebook PixelParsely
Marketing Tools:
HelloBar
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 fully accessible with rich content and no blocking mechanisms.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

75/100
Score

Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration

LOW

Current value: "max-age=300;includeSubdomains"

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "no-referrer-when-downgrade"

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

58/100
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

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

80/100
Score

Complex SPF record

LOW

Too many include statements can cause lookup limits

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.google.com include:amazonses.com include:44101848.spf06.hubspotemail.net include:aspmx.sailthru.com include:mktomail.com ip4:148.163.135.35 ip4:148.163.139.55 -all
DNS Lookups:7/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:quarantine
Aggregate Reports:aol@rua.agari.com
Forensic Reports:aol@ruf.agari.com

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

75/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 38 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

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

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:techcrunch.com
Issuer:E6
Valid Until:10/14/2025 (38 days)
SANs:techcrunch.com, www.techcrunch.com

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

85/100
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 Registration Details

Domain Age
20 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(277 days)
Protection Level
strongDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:192.0.66.220
AAAA Records:2a04:fa87:fffd::c000:42dc
Name Servers:
elly.ns.cloudflare.com
gordon.ns.cloudflare.com
MX Records:
10: mxb-00505701.gslb.pphosted.com
10: mxa-00505701.gslb.pphosted.com
SOA:Serial: 2381779672, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:71ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 a mx include:_spf.google.com include:amazonses.com include:44101848.spf06.hubspotemail.net include:aspmx.sailthru.com include:mktomail.com ip4:148.163.135.35 ip4:148.163.139.55 -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

TechCrunch's technical infrastructure is robust, leveraging WordPress CMS with advanced SEO plugins like Yoast and multiple analytics and marketing integrations including Google Analytics, Parsely, LinkedIn Insight, and Facebook Pixel. The site uses Cloudflare for DNS and likely CDN services, contributing to fast load times and global availability. The HTML content is well-structured with JSON-LD for rich snippets, and the site is optimized for mobile devices with responsive design. Accessibility features are present but could be further enhanced. The extensive use of third-party scripts introduces some complexity and potential privacy concerns but is typical for a media site. Overall, the technical implementation supports a high-quality user experience and strong digital presence.
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