Infrastructure - https://nationalgeographic.com BeaverCheck Audit

C

IPv6 Readiness

Action

No IPv6 support

REVIEW

No IPv6 support

No IPv6 (AAAA) records found

IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

No IPv6 Support

About 40% of internet users have IPv6. Consider adding AAAA records.

IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

Why this matters

No AAAA records — same impact as 'no IPv6 (AAAA) records'; IPv6-preferring clients pay extra latency falling back to IPv4.

Source: Google IPv6 stats

C

URL Variants

Action

www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS

REVIEW

www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS

Both www and non-www versions serve content

Got: Both variants return 200 Expected: One variant 301-redirects to the other

HTTP→HTTPS redirect uses 302 instead of 301

Got: 302 temporary redirect Expected: 301 permanent redirect

www / non-www

200https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

200https://nationalgeographic.com/

Inconsistent — duplicate content risk

HTTP → HTTPS

302http://nationalgeographic.com/ → https://www.nationalgeographic.com/?userab=ng_pw_copy-287%2Avariant_b-1127

Use 301 (permanent) instead of 302 (temporary)

B

TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations

225 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address

REVIEW

Certificate validity

225

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

4 A records, 12 ms lookup

PASS

4 A records, 12 ms lookup

Resolves to 4 IPv4 address(es)

Got: 13.33.252.85, 13.33.252.17, 13.33.252.7, 13.33.252.111

No IPv6 (AAAA) records

4 nameserver(s) configured

Got: ns106.twdcns.co.uk, ns106.twdcns.com, ns106.twdcns.net, ns106.twdcns.org

1 mail exchanger(s) configured

CAA records not checked

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

SPF record present in TXT

DNS resolution time: 12 ms

Got: 12 ms

A	13.33.252.85, 13.33.252.17, 13.33.252.7, 13.33.252.111
AAAA	—
CNAME	—
NS	ns106.twdcns.co.uk, ns106.twdcns.com, ns106.twdcns.net, ns106.twdcns.org
MX	5 nationalgeographic-com.mail.protection.outlook.com
TXT	9195-5BC8-D200-7A47-EFEA-C1F2-B395-F11A MS=ms92025546 adobe-idp-site-verification=012b7d24aff9766444b9232173abb52ef026139e50aac77c49e0... atlassian-domain-verification=5lqJwtfJPMHqC/aGvT/7s2BR53IHCs9P6vFjCQYA5nkQ4mvoHK... bryjbbw9c7tlwwfcvhbrh2mbx5f489q9 facebook-domain-verification=s2vntb2m7i6eo2t3r7wrfwehg5ojke fastly-domain-delegation-fdeltDD-10.11.22 google-site-verification=3ddAnvA03i2p9Lp8gi0kSQeeasEPjz3905WhMhbWSNU google-site-verification=5WNnmPMKPkvtFdhx94xNnsjdVQhTlvYGo0g0iF2nh7Y SPF v=spf1 include:spf.disney.com -all zendeskverification=fc192359b34448e4
CAA	Lookup not available with standard resolver

Resolved in 12 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

Redirect Chain

1 redirect(s), 139 ms total

PASS

1 redirect(s), 139 ms total

Single redirect

Got: https://nationalgeographic.com → https://www.nationalgeographic.com/ (302)

WWW normalization redirect

Uses 302 (temporary) redirect

If permanent, use 301 instead.

Got: https://nationalgeographic.com

https://nationalgeographic.com

38 ms · HTTP/1.1

302

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

101 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#	URL	Status	Time	Protocol	Server
1	https://nationalgeographic.com	302	38 ms	HTTP/1.1
2	https://www.nationalgeographic.com/	200	101 ms	HTTP/1.1	nginx

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

If permanent, use 301 instead.

Why this matters

302 (Found) is for genuinely temporary redirects — if this redirect is permanent, switch to 301 to preserve SEO equity.

Learn more ▾

Search engines treat 302 as temporary, keeping the original URL indexed and not transferring full link equity to the destination. Use 301 (Moved Permanently) for permanent redirects (HTTP→HTTPS, www-vs-non-www, URL restructures).

Source: Google Search Central

A+

Crawlability

robots.txt present, sitemap with 53 URLs

PASS

robots.txt present, sitemap with 53 URLs

robots.txt is present

Got: 1396 bytes

sitemap.xml is present

sitemap.xml is valid XML

sitemap.xml contains 53 entries

Sitemap index with 53 child sitemaps

robots.txt references sitemap

robots.txt 200 OK

Size 1396 B Sitemaps referenced 5 User-agents * Blocking No — crawling allowed

User-agent: *

# Directory Excludes
Disallow: /search*
Disallow: /tv/shows/
Disallow: /api/federation/

# Legacy Excludes
Disallow: /cgi-bin/
Disallow: /*.swf$
Disallow: /*eid=
Disallow: /*email=
Disallow: /*intcmp=
Disallow: /*ngc=
Disallow: /*referrer=
Disallow: /*widgets=
Disallow: /admin*
Disallow: /ads/
Disallow: /au/
Disallow: /cp/
Disallow: /ebooklets/
Disallow: /event.ng/
Disallow: /image/
Disallow: /in/
Disallow: /magazines/l/multisubs/*
Disallow: /magazines/all-banners-2*
Disallow: /magazines/all-banners*
Disallow: /magazines/all-dl*
Disallow: /magazines/all-flyout*
Disallow: /magazines/all-Ip*
Disallow: /magazines/all-lp*
Disallow: /magazines/all-sem*
Disallow: /magazines/all-subs*
Disallow: /magazines/Ip*
Disallow: /magazines/lp*
Disallow: /magazines/natgeomagazines-all*
Disallow: /magazines/natgeomagazines*
Disallow: /magazines/print-sem*
Disallow: /media/interactive/cdrom/onehundredandeightyears/
Disallow: /media/tv/channel/credits/
Disallow: /pc/
Disallow: /resources/ngo/maps/atlas/
Disallow: /topics/

# Announce Sitemap Locations
Sitemap: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/sitemaps/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://nationalgeographic.com/tv/sitemapindex-episodes.xml
Sitemap: https://nationalgeographic.com/tv/sitemapindex-showmap.xml
Sitemap: https://nationalgeographic.com/tv/sitemapindex-videomap.xml
Sitemap: https://nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/sitemap.xml

sitemap.xml 200 OK

Type Sitemap Index URLs 53 entries Valid XML Yes

Child Sitemaps:

A+

Domain Intelligence

nationalgeographic.com — via CSC Corporate Domains, Inc., 30 years, 11 months old, hosted on AWS

PASS

nationalgeographic.com — via CSC Corporate Domains, Inc., 30 years, 11 months old, hosted on AWS

Domain registered until Oct 9, 2026 (5 months remaining)

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.

Registrar: CSC Corporate Domains, Inc.

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.

Hosting: AWS

Got: AS16509

Domain expiry

87 days

October 9, 2026

SSL certificate

225 days

Issued by Amazon

Domain age

30 years, 11 months

Registered October 10, 1995

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

AWS

ASN AS16509

13.33.252.17

Registrar

CSC Corporate Domains, Inc.

Unlocked 4 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 CSC Corporate Domains, Inc.

Created October 10, 1995 (30 years, 11 months ago)

Expires October 9, 2026 (5 months)

Last Updated September 9, 2025

Name Servers ns106.twdcns.co.uk, ns106.twdcns.com, ns106.twdcns.net, ns106.twdcns.org

DNSSEC Not enabled

Hosting

IP Address 13.33.252.17

ASN AS16509 (AMAZON-02 - Amazon.com, Inc., US)

Provider AWS

Data source: rdap (0.1s)

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+

HTTP Probe Timing

Total 45 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown

PASS

DNS Lookup

5 ms

TCP Connect

6 ms

TLS Handshake

11 ms

Time to First Byte

46 ms

Total Time

46 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 5 ms TCP Connect 6 ms TLS Handshake 11 ms Server Processing 23 ms Content Transfer 0 ms

A

CDN & Delivery

AWS CloudFront (Miss from cloudfront)

PASS

AWS CloudFront (Miss from cloudfront)

Site is served via AWS CloudFront CDN (edge: IAD89-P4)

Got: x-amz-cf-id: 9QHmk8RkKWwUa8zdW2Q-Ou6iW54DjffEfNopHzCPXraKHIfDeHhcgg==

CDN cache status: Miss from cloudfront

CDN Detected: AWS CloudFront

Provider AWS CloudFront Cache Status Miss from cloudfront Evidence x-amz-cf-id: 9QHmk8RkKWwUa8zdW2Q-Ou6iW54DjffEfNopHzCPXraKHIfDeHhcgg==