Infrastructure - https://thecut.com BeaverCheck Audit

D

URL Variants

Action

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

FIX

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 version does not redirect to HTTPS

Got: HTTP 301 Expected: 301 redirect to HTTPS

www / non-www

200https://www.thecut.com/

200https://thecut.com/

Inconsistent — duplicate content risk

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://thecut.com/ → http://www.thecut.com/

HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS

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

B

TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations

84 days until leaf cert expires — 4 issues to address

REVIEW

Certificate validity

84

days left

0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

Add includeSubDomains to the HSTS directive
Add the preload directive and submit to hstspreload.org once max-age + includeSubDomains are in place
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

2 A records, 36 ms lookup

PASS

2 A records, 36 ms lookup

Resolves to 2 IPv4 address(es)

Got: 199.232.193.246, 199.232.197.246

No IPv6 (AAAA) records

4 nameserver(s) configured

Got: ns-291.awsdns-36.com, ns-1588.awsdns-06.co.uk, ns-1144.awsdns-15.org, ns-708.awsdns-24.net

5 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: 36 ms

Got: 36 ms

A	199.232.193.246, 199.232.197.246
AAAA	—
CNAME	—
NS	ns-291.awsdns-36.com, ns-1588.awsdns-06.co.uk, ns-1144.awsdns-15.org, ns-708.awsdns-24.net
MX	1 aspmx.l.google.com 5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com 5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com 10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com 10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
TXT	SPF v=spf1 ip4:205.220.178.19 ip4:205.220.166.19 include:mx.sailthru.com include:_sp... apple-domain-verification=tm1XRZTCZ3suQEhsY0hJo1rkUsgz-6nEKVsqBJOFr-4 google-site-verification=rspC7p0tR9ySFfDCReIIX5NUacw1jBdx0GVx8hrMcIM _globalsign-domain-verification=lQgTOD8dWU_8nHyzjHGJ39ncrI45HenuNvKKTckDhn tollbit-domain-verification=78942d166142d614cf7d7d13990319c1d3af550249fb6f55aaf8... slack-domain-verification=6CniIME5IaL0pL2Kfci9TrQfKsqPf35BFM1kOtaN google-site-verification=tv341sj1HCN31oFRPUv_lZWx07MK2wwRM8ZlEEBxfZY google-site-verification=1YagiCWDIQ6xYoIhqS-CLaXv3GXl_BG_sW2brD2YxMQ google-site-verification=vkT5vcclAK0FL4Nj8l0sR5Td7xNLTMjhN9ewhKKdIrs
CAA	Lookup not available with standard resolver

Resolved in 36 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), 68 ms total

PASS

1 redirect(s), 68 ms total

Single redirect

Got: https://thecut.com → https://www.thecut.com/ (301)

WWW normalization redirect

https://thecut.com

5 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.thecut.com/

63 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#	URL	Status	Time	Protocol	Server
1	https://thecut.com	301	5 ms	HTTP/1.1
2	https://www.thecut.com/	200	63 ms	HTTP/1.1

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

A+

Crawlability

robots.txt present, sitemap with 21 URLs

PASS

robots.txt present, sitemap with 21 URLs

robots.txt is present

Got: 1032 bytes

sitemap.xml is present

sitemap.xml is valid XML

sitemap.xml contains 21 entries

Sitemap index with 21 child sitemaps

robots.txt references sitemap

robots.txt 200 OK

Size 1032 B Sitemaps referenced 2 User-agents CCBot, ClaudeBot, Mediapartners-Google*, Google-Extended, ChatGPT-User, FacebookBot, Omgili, YouBot, TruliaBot, *, Applebot-Extended, Applebot, Claude-Web, Diffbot, ImagesiftBot, Omgilibot, Bytespider, Twitterbot, PerplexityBot, Amazonbot, anthropic-ai Blocking No — crawling allowed

Sitemap: https://www.thecut.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.thecut.com/_news.xml

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google*
Disallow:

User-agent: TruliaBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: Twitterbot
Disallow: /amp/*

User-agent: *
Disallow: /search/
Disallow: /search.html
Disallow: /fashion/lookbook/38917/
Disallow: /newyork/
Disallow: /contactus/
Disallow: *?origSession=*

User-Agent: PerplexityBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: Google-Extended
Disallow:

User-agent: Amazonbot 
Allow: /

User-agent: Applebot-Extended
Disallow: /

User-agent: Applebot
Allow: /

User-agent: anthropic-ai 
Disallow: /

User-agent: Bytespider  
Disallow: /

User-agent: CCBot 
Disallow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User  
Disallow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot  
Disallow: /

User-agent: Claude-Web  
Disallow: /

User-agent: Diffbot  
Disallow: /

User-agent: FacebookBot 
Disallow: /

User-agent: ImagesiftBot  
Disallow: /

User-agent: Omgilibot  
Disallow: /

User-agent: Omgili 
Disallow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot  
Disallow: /

User-agent: YouBot
Disallow: /

sitemap.xml 200 OK

Type Sitemap Index URLs 21 entries Valid XML Yes

Child Sitemaps:

A

Domain Intelligence

thecut.com — via Amazon Registrar, Inc., 28 years, 1 months old, hosted on Fastly

PASS

thecut.com — via Amazon Registrar, Inc., 28 years, 1 months old, hosted on Fastly

Domain expires in 88 days

Consider enabling auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiration.

Got: Expires Jul 19, 2026

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: Amazon Registrar, 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: Fastly

Got: AS54113

Domain expiry

33 days

July 19, 2026

SSL certificate

84 days

Issued by Let's Encrypt

Domain age

28 years, 1 months

Registered July 20, 1998

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

Fastly

ASN AS54113

199.232.197.246

Registrar

Amazon Registrar, 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 Amazon Registrar, Inc.

Created July 20, 1998 (28 years, 1 months ago)

Expires July 19, 2026 (2 months)

Last Updated June 14, 2025

Name Servers ns-1144.awsdns-15.org, ns-1588.awsdns-06.co.uk, ns-291.awsdns-36.com, ns-708.awsdns-24.net

DNSSEC Not enabled

Hosting

IP Address 199.232.197.246

ASN AS54113 (FASTLY - Fastly, Inc., US)

Provider Fastly

Data source: rdap (0.1s)

Consider enabling auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiration.

Why this matters

Domain expiry approaching — renew immediately and ensure auto-renew + alerting are configured.

Source: ICANN renewal policy

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 44 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown

PASS

DNS Lookup

39 ms

TCP Connect

0 ms

TLS Handshake

4 ms

Time to First Byte

44 ms

Total Time

45 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 39 ms TCP Connect 0 ms TLS Handshake 4 ms Server Processing 1 ms Content Transfer 0 ms

A+

CDN & Delivery

Fastly (HIT)

PASS

Fastly (HIT)

Site is served via Fastly CDN

Got: x-served-by: cache-toj-leto2350020-TOJ

CDN cache status: HIT

CDN Detected: Fastly

Provider Fastly Cache Status HIT Evidence x-served-by: cache-toj-leto2350020-TOJ