Infrastructure
· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.FIPv6 ReadinessActionIPv6 records exist but unreachableFIX
Having AAAA records but an unreachable server is worse than no AAAA — clients may experience delays before falling back to IPv4.
Advertising IPv6 (AAAA records) without a reachable server means IPv6-preferring clients silently fail every connection.
Learn more ▾ ▴
Modern browsers prefer IPv6 if AAAA exists (Happy Eyeballs algorithm). If the IPv6 server isn't reachable, browsers fall back to IPv4 — but with seconds of added latency per request. Either fix IPv6 reachability or remove the AAAA records.
Source: RFC 8305 (Happy Eyeballs)
DURL VariantsActionwww/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPSFIX
www / non-www
Inconsistent — duplicate content risk
HTTP → HTTPS
HTTP version does not redirect to HTTPS
BTLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations75 days until leaf cert expires — 2 issues to addressREVIEW
Certificate validity
Recommended actions
- Enable HSTS: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains
- Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
BCDN & DeliveryCloudflareREVIEW
A+DNS Records5 A records, 8 ms lookupPASS
| A | 104.16.221.171, 104.16.222.171, 104.16.223.171, 104.16.224.171, 104.16.225.171 |
| AAAA | 2606:4700::6810:ddab, 2606:4700::6810:deab, 2606:4700::6810:dfab, 2606:4700::6810:e0ab, 2606:4700::6810:e1ab |
| CNAME | — |
| NS | ns1.ubmdns.com, ns2.ubmdns.com |
| MX | 10 us-smtp-inbound-2.mimecast.com 10 us-smtp-inbound-1.mimecast.com |
| TXT | MS=ms17477081 MS=ms41447875 MS=ms44788990 MS=ms62813886 google-site-verification=CrbTRNIj3fecxMfHLR0SlvqdF8n2ProsjOnXw5TcAa4 google-site-verification=RmY7DftliqtrwWVRvoYpyKyNXICeQvORa8D0uSvvkdQ google-site-verification=TGEUCGu_ALeBVz8gKNRMVX9ANdFOv2y2C5bU3h-ujhE google-site-verification=sUVJRoxhgiTGCs1tn14SqTGQTlYx0dSLlpSrY5Q8Cas |
| CAA | Lookup not available with standard resolver |
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.
SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.
Without SPF, receiving servers can't validate sending IPs — your domain is easier to spoof in phishing.
Learn more ▾ ▴
SPF complements DMARC. Both should be published. SPF records list authorized sending IPs (e.g., `v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all` for Google Workspace). After publishing, verify in Google Postmaster Tools or mxtoolbox.
Source: RFC 7208 (SPF)
ARedirect Chain1 redirect(s), 90 ms totalPASS
https://darkreading.com
29 ms · HTTP/1.1
https://www.darkreading.com/
61 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL
| # | URL | Status | Time | Protocol | Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | https://darkreading.com | 301 | 29 ms | HTTP/1.1 | cloudflare |
| 2 | https://www.darkreading.com/ | 200 | 61 ms | HTTP/1.1 | cloudflare |
See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →
A+Crawlabilityrobots.txt present, sitemap with 20 URLsPASS
User-agent: *
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/sitemap.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/googlenews.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/contributors.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/generic-content.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/image-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/news-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/slideshows-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/videos-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/document-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/podcast-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/articles-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/event-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/multi-section-article-archive-index.xml
Sitemap: https://www.darkreading.com/sitemap-index.xml
Disallow: /search
Disallow: /recipe-portal/search
Disallow: /api/health
Disallow: /cdn-cgi/
Disallow: /live-preview/
Disallow: /my-purchases/
User-agent: Amazonbot
User-agent: Anthropic-ai
User-agent: Applebot-Extended
User-agent: AwarioRssBot
User-agent: AwarioSmartBot
User-agent: Bytespider
User-agent: CCBot
User-agent: ClaudeBot
User-agent: Claude-Web
User-agent: Cohere-ai
User-agent: Diffbot
User-agent: FacebookBot
User-agent: GPTBot
User-agent: ImagesiftBot
User-agent: Magpie-crawler
User-agent: Meta-ExternalAgent
User-agent: Omgili
User-agent: Omgilibot
User-agent: PanguBot
User-agent: Peer39_crawler
User-agent: Peer39_crawler/1.0
User-agent: Timpibot
User-agent: Webzio-Extended
Disallow: /
ADomain Intelligencedarkreading.com — via SafeNames Ltd., 23 years, 1 months old, hosted on CloudflarePASS
1 day
July 17, 2026
75 days
Issued by Google Trust Services
23 years, 1 months
Registered July 17, 2003
Enabled
Protects against DNS spoofing
Cloudflare
ASN AS13335
104.16.221.171
SafeNames Ltd.
Expiry timeline
Recommended actions
- Renew the domain or enable auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiry
- Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Consider enabling auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiration.
Domain expiry approaching — renew immediately and ensure auto-renew + alerting are configured.
Source: ICANN renewal policy
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.
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