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https://niemanlab.org

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
90
GRADE
A
FIX
0
REVIEW
4
PASS
5
INFO
0
Probed from New York, United Stated
301 Moved Permanently
Checks
9
5 PASS 4 REVIEW
B
Redirect Chain
1 redirect(s), 1058 ms total
REVIEW
1 redirect(s), 1058 ms total
Info::
Single redirect
Got: https://niemanlab.org → https://www.niemanlab.org/ (301)
Info::
WWW normalization redirect
Warning::
Redirect overhead: 1058 ms total
Got: 1058 ms

https://niemanlab.org

1017 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.niemanlab.org/

41 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://niemanlab.org3011017 msHTTP/1.1cloudflare
2https://www.niemanlab.org/20041 msHTTP/1.1cloudflare

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

B
URL Variants
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
REVIEW
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
Critical::
Both www and non-www versions serve content
Got: Both variants return 200 Expected: One variant 301-redirects to the other
Info::
HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

www / non-www

200https://www.niemanlab.org/
200https://niemanlab.org/

Inconsistent — duplicate content risk

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://niemanlab.org/ → https://niemanlab.org/

Consistent

B
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 1074 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
REVIEW
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
28 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
2 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
10 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
1.07 s
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
1.07 s

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 28 ms TCP Connect 2 ms TLS Handshake 10 ms Server Processing 1.04 s Content Transfer 0 ms
B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
56 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

56
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
  • Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
  • Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
A+
DNS Records
3 A records, 39 ms lookup
PASS
3 A records, 39 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 3 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 104.26.8.173, 172.67.68.133, 104.26.9.173
Info::
Has 3 IPv6 (AAAA) record(s)
Got: 2606:4700:20::ac43:4485, 2606:4700:20::681a:9ad, 2606:4700:20::681a:8ad
Info::
2 nameserver(s) configured
Got: jaime.ns.cloudflare.com, vivienne.ns.cloudflare.com
Info::
1 mail exchanger(s) configured
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
SPF record present in TXT
Info::
DNS resolution time: 39 ms
Got: 39 ms
A104.26.8.173, 172.67.68.133, 104.26.9.173
AAAA2606:4700:20::ac43:4485, 2606:4700:20::681a:9ad, 2606:4700:20::681a:8ad
CNAME—
NSjaime.ns.cloudflare.com, vivienne.ns.cloudflare.com
MX
50 qs2789.pair.com
TXT
SPF v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 39 ms

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

Why this matters

Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.

A+
IPv6 Readiness
IPv6 reachable (1 ms)
PASS
IPv6 reachable (1 ms)
Info::
IPv6 is configured and reachable at 2606:4700:20::ac43:4485, 2606:4700:20::681a:9ad, 2606:4700:20::681a:8ad
Got: 1 ms connect
IPv6 Ready
AAAA Records 2606:4700:20::ac43:4485, 2606:4700:20::681a:9ad, 2606:4700:20::681a:8ad Connection Reachable (1 ms)
A+
Crawlability
robots.txt present, sitemap with 14 URLs
PASS
robots.txt present, sitemap with 14 URLs
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 2076 bytes
Info::
sitemap.xml is present
Info::
sitemap.xml is valid XML
Info::
sitemap.xml contains 14 entries
Info::
Sitemap index with 14 child sitemaps
Info::
robots.txt references sitemap
robots.txt 200 OK
Size 2076 B Sitemaps referenced 1 User-agents MJ12bot, AhrefsBot, BLEXBot, Slurp, linkdexbot/2.0, Cliqzbot, Mail.RU_Bot, CazoodleBot, PathDefender, Vagabondo, voltron, VegeBot, BSpider, MegaIndex.ru/2.0, YandexBot, Goodzer, Baiduspider, GetintentCrawler, Jooblebot, Yahoo! Slurp, OSG_BOT, "Vegi bot (we follow your robots.txt settings before crawling, you can slow down the bot by change the Crawl-Delay parameter in the settings.if you have an enquiry, please email to: abuse-report@terrykyleseoagency.com)", *, adbeat_bot, Gigabot, Yandex, Ezooms, wiederfreibot/1.0, dotbot/1.0, Exabot Blocking No — crawling allowed
User-agent: Slurp
Disallow: /

User-agent: Yahoo! Slurp
Disallow: /


# Block wiederfreibot as it is just noise
User-agent: wiederfreibot/1.0
Disallow: /

# Block CazoodleBot as it does not present correct accept content headers
User-agent: CazoodleBot
Disallow: /

# Block MJ12bot as it is just noise
User-agent: MJ12bot
Disallow: /

# Block dotbot as it cannot parse base urls properly
User-agent: dotbot/1.0
Disallow: /

# Block Gigabot
User-agent: Gigabot
Disallow: /

# Block AhrefsBot
User-agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /

# Block YandexBot
User-agent: YandexBot
Disallow: /

# Block Yandex
User-agent: Yandex
Disallow: /

# Block Exabot
User-agent: Exabot
Disallow: /

# Block PathDefender
User-agent: PathDefender
Disallow: /

# Block Goodzer
User-agent: Goodzer
Disallow: /

# Block  MegaIndex.ru
User-agent: MegaIndex.ru/2.0
Disallow: /

# Block Ezooms
User-agent: Ezooms
Disallow: /

# Block Baiduspider
User-agent: Baiduspider
Disallow: /

User-agent: MJ12bot
Disallow: /

User-agent: Vagabondo
Disallow: /

User-agent: Yandex
Disallow: /

User-agent: BSpider
Disallow: /

# Block common cralwers:
User-agent: voltron
Disallow: /

# Some weird backlink checker (webmeup.com)
User-agent: BLEXBot
Disallow: /

# Another backlink crawler
User-agent: linkdexbot/2.0
Disallow: /

# Another backlink crawler (https://ahrefs.com/robot)
User-Agent: AhrefsBot
Disallow: /

# Another one.
User-Agent: GetintentCrawler
Disallow: /

User-agent: Cliqzbot
Disallow: /

User-agent: MJ12bot
Disallow: /

User-agent: Mail.RU_Bot
Disallow: /

User-agent: OSG_BOT
Disallow: /

User-agent: VegeBot
Disallow: /
Crawl-delay: 60

User-agent: "Vegi bot (we follow your robots.txt settings before crawling, you can slow down the bot by change the Crawl-Delay parameter in the settings.if you have an enquiry, please email to: abuse-report@terrykyleseoagency.com)"
Disallow: /
Crawl-delay: 60

User-agent: adbeat_bot
Disallow: /

User-agent: Jooblebot
Disallow: /

# BEGIN W3TC ROBOTS
User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-content/cache/
# END W3TC ROBOTS

Sitemap: https://www.niemanlab.org/sitemap.xml
sitemap.xml 200 OK
Type Sitemap Index URLs 14 entries Valid XML Yes
Child Sitemaps:
A+
Domain Intelligence
niemanlab.org — via pair Networks, Inc. d/b/a pair Domains, 17 years, 11 months old
PASS
niemanlab.org — via pair Networks, Inc. d/b/a pair Domains, 17 years, 11 months old
Info::
Domain registered until Aug 11, 2026 (3 months remaining)
Info::
DNSSEC is not enabled
DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.
Info::
Registrar: pair Networks, Inc. d/b/a pair Domains
Warning::
Registrar lock is NOT enabled
The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.
Domain expiry

29 days

August 11, 2026

SSL certificate

56 days

Issued by Google Trust Services

Domain age

17 years, 11 months

Registered August 11, 2008

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

Unknown

2606:4700:20::681a:9ad

Registrar

pair Networks, Inc. d/b/a pair Domains

Unlocked 2 NS records
Expiry timeline
Today
+1 year
Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)
Recommended actions
  • Renew the domain or enable auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiry
  • Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
  • Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Registrar pair Networks, Inc. d/b/a pair Domains
Created August 11, 2008 (17 years, 11 months ago)
Expires August 11, 2026 (3 months)
Last Updated July 17, 2025
Name Servers jaime.ns.cloudflare.com, vivienne.ns.cloudflare.com
DNSSEC Not enabled
Hosting
IP Address 2606:4700:20::681a:9ad
Data source: rdap (0.2s)

DNSSEC protects against DNS spoofing attacks. While not required, enabling DNSSEC adds an additional layer of security. Contact your DNS provider to enable it.

Why this matters

Without DNSSEC, an attacker who can poison your DNS can hijack your domain — and SSL certs alone don't stop them.

Learn more ▾

DNSSEC adds cryptographic signatures to DNS records, preventing forged responses from poisoning resolver caches. Without it, an attacker who controls the network path can redirect your domain to a malicious server before any HTTPS handshake happens. Most modern registrars (Cloudflare, Google Domains, Route 53) enable it with one toggle.

Source: ICANN / RFC 4033

The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.

Why this matters

Without registrar lock, an attacker who phishes your registrar credentials can transfer the domain in minutes — total brand hijack.

Learn more ▾

Registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited) requires extra verification before any transfer/update/delete. Every major registrar offers it free. Combined with 2FA on your registrar account, it's the strongest defense against domain hijacking.

Source: ICANN / domain-security best practice

A
CDN & Delivery
Cloudflare (MISS)
PASS
Cloudflare (MISS)
Info::
Site is served via Cloudflare CDN (edge: EWR)
Got: cf-ray: 9f0868741d3b43a3-EWR
Info::
CDN cache status: MISS
CDN Detected: Cloudflare
Provider Cloudflare Cache Status MISS Evidence cf-ray: 9f0868741d3b43a3-EWR
All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.

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