Skip to main content

Is wikinews.org a Scam? Security Check Results - Wikimedia Foundation

wikinews.org Security Report Summary

wikinews.org received a security score of 62 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers Wikimedia Foundation's website security posture. Wikimedia Foundation operates in the Media industry in N/a.

Wikinews is a free, community-driven news platform operated under the Wikimedia Foundation umbrella. It provides multilingual news content collaboratively created by volunteers worldwide. The site holds a niche position in the global media landscape as a non-profit, open-content news source. The platform leverages the MediaWiki software, ensuring a consistent user experience aligned with other Wikimedia projects. The website is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and offers clear navigation to various language editions, enhancing accessibility and user engagement. Technically, the site uses modern web standards including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, with MediaWiki as the CMS backbone. While performance is moderate, the site is optimized for mobile devices and accessibility. The absence of explicit security headers in the HTML suggests these may be managed at the server or CDN level. Privacy and terms of use policies are comprehensive and prominently linked, reflecting strong compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations. However, no cookie consent mechanism or vulnerability disclosure policy is evident. From a security perspective, the site benefits from HTTPS and lacks exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries in the provided content. The lack of visible security headers and incident response contacts indicates areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy or registry restrictions, but the domain's association with Wikimedia Foundation supports its legitimacy. Overall, the site demonstrates a solid security posture with room for enhancements in transparency and explicit security communications. The overall risk assessment is low, with the site presenting no suspicious or malicious content. Strategic recommendations include implementing security headers, publishing vulnerability disclosure policies, adding cookie consent mechanisms, and providing clear security contact information to enhance trust and compliance.

The security scan identified 30 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: JavaScript, SVG, HTML5, CSS3.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

wikinews.org favicon

Is wikinews.org Safe? Security Analysis for Wikimedia Foundation

https://wikinews.org

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

MediaN/alarge
JavaScriptSVGHTML5CSS3
Analyzed 10/7/2025Completed 2:03:19 PM5mo ago
62
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Above Media avg (58)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

Security teams trust us

EveryPay

Secure checkout

Instant

Reports delivered

Professional PDF & Marketing Data

Get the professional PDF report for wikinews.org

Export this security analysis as a professional PDF document, receive it via email, and access marketing intelligence data including contact emails and phone numbers. One-time purchase for lifetime access.

PDF Report & Export

PDF download, email delivery, unlock code

39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainwikinews.org
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

Wikinews is a free, community-driven news platform operated under the Wikimedia Foundation umbrella. It provides multilingual news content collaboratively created by volunteers worldwide. The site holds a niche position in the global media landscape as a non-profit, open-content news source. The platform leverages the MediaWiki software, ensuring a consistent user experience aligned with other Wikimedia projects. The website is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and offers clear navigation to various language editions, enhancing accessibility and user engagement. Technically, the site uses modern web standards including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, with MediaWiki as the CMS backbone. While performance is moderate, the site is optimized for mobile devices and accessibility. The absence of explicit security headers in the HTML suggests these may be managed at the server or CDN level. Privacy and terms of use policies are comprehensive and prominently linked, reflecting strong compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations. However, no cookie consent mechanism or vulnerability disclosure policy is evident. From a security perspective, the site benefits from HTTPS and lacks exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries in the provided content. The lack of visible security headers and incident response contacts indicates areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy or registry restrictions, but the domain's association with Wikimedia Foundation supports its legitimacy. Overall, the site demonstrates a solid security posture with room for enhancements in transparency and explicit security communications. The overall risk assessment is low, with the site presenting no suspicious or malicious content. Strategic recommendations include implementing security headers, publishing vulnerability disclosure policies, adding cookie consent mechanisms, and providing clear security contact information to enhance trust and compliance.

Detected Technologies

JavaScriptSVGHTML5CSS3

10 urgent findings need attention

10 high

  • + 2 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

Keep wikinews.org 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
Less than 1 € / day — cheaper than a single incident response hour

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

Purchase to access the monitoring timeline, JSON diffs, alert history, and PDF export for wikinews.org.

Security Headers

7 findings

30/100

GDPR Compliance

4 findings

53/100

NIS2 Compliance

9 findings

2/100

Email Security

4 findings

70/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Wikinews operates as a non-profit media entity under the Wikimedia Foundation, targeting a global audience interested in free, collaboratively produced news content. Its competitive advantage lies in its open editing model and integration within the Wikimedia ecosystem, which includes Wikipedia and other knowledge projects. Revenue streams are primarily donation-based, consistent with Wikimedia's funding model. The platform supports multiple languages, expanding its reach and inclusivity. Partnerships are mainly internal within Wikimedia projects, with no evident commercial partnerships. The business model emphasizes community contribution and free access, positioning Wikinews as a trusted alternative to commercial news outlets. Growth indicators include expanding language editions and article counts. Operationally, the site maintains consistent branding and content quality aligned with Wikimedia standards.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

Wikinews exhibits a mature security posture typical of Wikimedia Foundation projects. HTTPS is enforced, ensuring encrypted communications. The site does not expose sensitive information in its HTML content. However, the absence of visible security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options in the provided HTML suggests potential gaps or reliance on server-level configurations. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is publicly available, which could hinder timely reporting and remediation of security issues. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, reflecting strong data protection practices. The lack of cookie consent mechanisms may be an area for compliance improvement. Overall, the security culture appears robust but would benefit from enhanced transparency and explicit security communications.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and verify HTTP security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen client-side security.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Wikimedia Foundation

Description:

Wikinews is a free news source project under the Wikimedia Foundation providing collaboratively written news articles in multiple languages.

Key Services:
Free news articlesMultilingual news contentCommunity editing and contribution
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
JavaScriptSVGHTML5CSS3
Frameworks:
MediaWiki
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
70/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS usage implied by URL
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:excellent

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:excellent

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is part of the Wikimedia Foundation projects.

Get this report delivered to your inbox

Receive a summary of the wikinews.org security findings by email. Quick and easy to share with decision makers.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

30/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

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

53/100
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

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

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

2/100
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

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: transport, digital

Need this report as a PDF?

Download the complete wikinews.org security analysis as a professional PDF. Share it with your team, clients, or stakeholders.

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

70/100
Score

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

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:wikimedia.org ~all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:~all

🏆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 32 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:*.wikipedia.org
Issuer:E6
Valid Until:11/8/2025 (32 days)
SANs:*.m.mediawiki.org, *.m.wikibooks.org, *.m.wikidata.org +38 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

No DMARC Record

MEDIUM

DMARC policy not configured

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
21 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(4 days)
Protection Level
strongDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:185.15.59.224
AAAA Records:2a02:ec80:300:ed1a::1
Name Servers:
ns0.wikimedia.org
ns1.wikimedia.org
ns2.wikimedia.org
MX Records:
10: mx-in1001.wikimedia.org
10: mx-in2001.wikimedia.org
SOA:Serial: 2025052614, TTL: 3600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:75ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:wikimedia.org ~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

How does wikinews.org compare?

See how wikinews.org stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on the MediaWiki platform, leveraging modern web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. The design is responsive and accessible, supporting multiple languages with clear navigation. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by the extensive content and multilingual support. No heavy third-party advertising or tracking scripts are present, reducing technical debt and privacy risks. The hosting provider is not explicitly identified but is presumably Wikimedia Foundation infrastructure. The site lacks visible security headers in the HTML source, which should be confirmed at the server level. Overall, the technical implementation is solid with opportunities for security and privacy enhancements.
Professional PDF & Marketing Data

Download the wikinews.org report as PDF

Get the complete analysis in a shareable PDF format, delivered instantly to your email with lifetime access.

PDF Report & Export

PDF download, email delivery, unlock code

39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainwikinews.org
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

Scan your own website

Liked the wikinews.org report? Run the same comprehensive security analysis on your domain — free, instant, and no sign-up required.

Or browse our directory of >10,000 scanned websites.

⭐ Verified Community Reviews

What others say about wikinews.org

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