Skip to main content

Is thenational.ae a Scam? Security Check Results - thenational.ae Reviews

thenational.ae favicon

Is thenational.ae Safe? Security Analysis for The National - Latest world news, sport & opinion

Check if thenational.ae is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

MediaN/alarge
JavaScriptGoogle Tag ManagerCxenseParselyPiano
Analyzed 9/7/2025Completed 6:50:10 AM
70
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The National is a large-scale international news media website providing the latest world news, sports, and opinion content. It targets a general audience with a focus on regional editions for various countries, indicating a broad geographic reach. The business model centers on digital news publishing with additional mobile app platforms for iOS and Android, reflecting a mature digital presence. The website demonstrates consistent branding and good content quality, positioning it as a reputable media outlet in its sector. Technically, the site employs modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager, Parsely, and Cxense, supporting effective content delivery and user engagement tracking. Mobile optimization is good, and SEO practices are well implemented, although accessibility features appear basic. The absence of explicit CMS or hosting provider information limits deeper infrastructure insights. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data in the HTML. However, it lacks visible security headers and a security.txt file for vulnerability disclosure, which are recommended best practices. No WAF or blocking mechanisms were detected, and no critical vulnerabilities were found in the analyzed content. Privacy compliance is limited due to missing privacy and cookie policies, which should be addressed to meet regulatory standards. Overall, the website is professionally designed and functional with moderate technical sophistication and a solid security posture. The lack of WHOIS data is a notable anomaly that warrants further investigation to confirm domain legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing privacy compliance, implementing security headers, and publishing vulnerability disclosure information to strengthen trust and security culture.

Detected Technologies

JavaScriptGoogle Tag ManagerCxenseParselyPiano

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The National operates as a major media entity focusing on international and regional news coverage. Its competitive advantage lies in its multi-regional editions and mobile app availability, catering to diverse audiences. Revenue streams likely include advertising and subscription models, supported by integrated marketing and analytics tools. The target customer segments are general news consumers across multiple countries, with a strong presence in the UAE and surrounding regions. Growth indicators include digital platform expansion and use of advanced tracking technologies. The partnership ecosystem includes analytics and advertising service providers, although no direct business partners or subsidiaries were identified in the data.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response contacts were found, indicating potential gaps in security governance and transparency. Compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations is unclear due to missing privacy and cookie policies. The site would benefit from formalizing incident response procedures and publishing security policies to enhance readiness and user trust.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear GDPR compliance statements.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Description:

The latest international news, headlines and events from around the world

Key Services:
news publishingdigital news contentmobile app
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
JavaScriptGoogle Tag ManagerCxenseParselyPiano
Platforms:
WebiOS appAndroid app
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
80/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • no exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
ParselyGoogle Analytics (via GTM)
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Ad Networks:
Cxense
Tracking Pixels:
ParselyGoogle Analytics via GTM
Marketing Tools:
Piano
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website content is fully accessible and not blocked by WAF or security challenges.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

30/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

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

73/100
Score

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 Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

22/100
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

📧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 include:spf.mandrillapp.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:spf.uae.exclaimer.net include:amazonses.com include:_spf.psm.knowbe4.com -all
DNS Lookups:5/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:selector1(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:bw9lkin4@ag.ap.dmarcian.com
Forensic Reports:bw9lkin4@fr.ap.dmarcian.com

🏆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 39 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:thenational.web.arc-cdn.net
Issuer:R10
Valid Until:10/16/2025 (39 days)
SANs:amp.thenationalnews.com, m.thenationalnews.com, thenational.web.arc-cdn.net +2 more

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

DNS Records

A Records:76.223.41.28, 13.248.163.249
Name Servers:
ns05.domaincontrol.comDNS only
ns06.domaincontrol.comDNS only
MX Records:
0: thenationalnews-com.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2025071401, TTL: 600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:148ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.mandrillapp.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:spf.uae.exclaimer.net include:amazonses.com include:_spf.psm.knowbe4.com -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 modern JavaScript-based front end with integration of third-party analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager, Parsely, and Cxense. It supports mobile platforms with dedicated iOS and Android apps. Performance is moderate with preloading of fonts and images, but no explicit CMS or hosting details were found. SEO is well addressed with canonical and hreflang tags for regional targeting. Accessibility is basic and could be improved. The technical stack is typical for a large media publisher but lacks some advanced security and compliance features.
Analyze Another Website