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https://mediamatters.org

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
92
GRADE
A
FIX
0
REVIEW
2
PASS
7
INFO
0
Probed from Madrid, Spain
301 Moved Permanently
Checks
9
7 PASS 2 REVIEW
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.mediamatters.org/
200https://mediamatters.org/

Inconsistent — duplicate content risk

HTTP → HTTPS

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

Consistent

B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
60 days until leaf cert expires — 5 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

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

Recommended actions

  • Extend HSTS max-age to at least 31536000 (1 year) to meet the preload list criteria
  • 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
1 A records, 53 ms lookup
PASS
1 A records, 53 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 23.185.0.1
Info::
Single A record — no DNS redundancy
Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.
Info::
Has 2 IPv6 (AAAA) record(s)
Got: 2620:12a:8000::1, 2620:12a:8001::1
Info::
3 nameserver(s) configured
Got: ns3.slicehost.net, ns1.slicehost.net, ns2.slicehost.net
Info::
7 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: 53 ms
Got: 53 ms
A23.185.0.1
AAAA2620:12a:8000::1, 2620:12a:8001::1
CNAME—
NSns3.slicehost.net, ns1.slicehost.net, ns2.slicehost.net
MX
10 aspmx.l.google.com
20 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
20 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
30 aspmx4.googlemail.com
30 aspmx2.googlemail.com
30 aspmx5.googlemail.com
30 aspmx3.googlemail.com
TXT
kore-domain-verification=Zhx5iSsoUpKOqHzCfGVhvrRD9dQbMiTprH4QvRlB2xY5
n2j4bio4m8jae2vlpsb4v8skqt
google-site-verification=Mc1RF0Z4ZG0syen2GLBUzWnAlyMkT3IS5w1hWWO101c
924ce7cant61mcg8s0dn47tm3e
fastly-domain-delegation-dkjfgmksm49u5kw0s-22072019
fastly-domain-delegation-J7a6SnNP3MuXYtvR-444405-2021-11-03
MS=0F115AEBBFA05D8432C224F7179B4D31C6D2EABC
MS=ms85405476
google-site-verification=5MQI8MMmM4h9kPC8j2bV5QeEFiQxBl38lB5DWlemRFo
google-site-verification=MZ3_Rp0-3Hgj7vyLI48rNgzViz5EDBm3OfSJUso8XJY
SPF v=spf1 ip4:67.23.12.35 mx:mediamatters.org include:_spf.google.com include:spf....
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 53 ms

Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.

Why this matters

Single A record means a single point of failure — if that IP goes down, your site is unreachable until DNS TTL expires.

Learn more ▾

Add multiple A records for round-robin failover, or use a managed DNS provider with health-checked failover (Route 53, Cloudflare, NS1). Short TTL (60-300s) lets clients recover faster on outages.

Source: SRE practice / DNS architecture

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), 170 ms total
PASS
1 redirect(s), 170 ms total
Info::
Single redirect
Got: https://mediamatters.org → https://www.mediamatters.org/ (301)
Info::
WWW normalization redirect

https://mediamatters.org

6 ms · HTTP/1.1

301

https://www.mediamatters.org/

163 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://mediamatters.org3016 msHTTP/1.1Varnish
2https://www.mediamatters.org/200163 msHTTP/1.1nginx

See the visual redirect chain in the HTTP Probe tab →

A+
IPv6 Readiness
IPv6 reachable (0 ms)
PASS
IPv6 reachable (0 ms)
Info::
IPv6 is configured and reachable at 2620:12a:8000::1, 2620:12a:8001::1
Got: 0 ms connect
IPv6 Ready
AAAA Records 2620:12a:8000::1, 2620:12a:8001::1 Connection Reachable (0 ms)
A+
Crawlability
robots.txt present, sitemap with 53 URLs
PASS
robots.txt present, sitemap with 53 URLs
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 2027 bytes
Info::
sitemap.xml is present
Info::
sitemap.xml is valid XML
Info::
sitemap.xml contains 53 entries
Info::
Sitemap index with 53 child sitemaps
Info::
robots.txt does not reference a sitemap
Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap.

Add a 'Sitemap:' directive to robots.txt so search engines can discover your sitemap.

Why this matters

robots.txt omits Sitemap: directive — crawlers must fetch /sitemap.xml by convention; reliable but missing the explicit hint.

Source: sitemaps.org

robots.txt 200 OK
Size 2027 B Sitemaps referenced 0 User-agents * Blocking No — crawling allowed
#
# robots.txt
#
# This file is to prevent the crawling and indexing of certain parts
# of your site by web crawlers and spiders run by sites like Yahoo!
# and Google. By telling these "robots" where not to go on your site,
# you save bandwidth and server resources.
#
# This file will be ignored unless it is at the root of your host:
# Used:    http://example.com/robots.txt
# Ignored: http://example.com/site/robots.txt
#
# For more information about the robots.txt standard, see:
# http://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html

User-agent: *
# CSS, JS, Images
Allow: /core/*.css$
Allow: /core/*.css?
Allow: /core/*.js$
Allow: /core/*.js?
Allow: /core/*.gif
Allow: /core/*.jpg
Allow: /core/*.jpeg
Allow: /core/*.png
Allow: /core/*.svg
Allow: /profiles/*.css$
Allow: /profiles/*.css?
Allow: /profiles/*.js$
Allow: /profiles/*.js?
Allow: /profiles/*.gif
Allow: /profiles/*.jpg
Allow: /profiles/*.jpeg
Allow: /profiles/*.png
Allow: /profiles/*.svg
# Directories
Disallow: /core/
Disallow: /profiles/
# Files
Disallow: /README.md
Disallow: /composer/Metapackage/README.txt
Disallow: /composer/Plugin/ProjectMessage/README.md
Disallow: /composer/Plugin/Scaffold/README.md
Disallow: /composer/Plugin/VendorHardening/README.txt
Disallow: /composer/Template/README.txt
Disallow: /modules/README.txt
Disallow: /sites/README.txt
Disallow: /themes/README.txt
Disallow: /web.config
# Paths (clean URLs)
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /comment/reply/
Disallow: /filter/tips
Disallow: /node/add/
Disallow: /search/
Disallow: /user/register
Disallow: /user/password
Disallow: /user/login
Disallow: /user/logout
Disallow: /media/oembed
Disallow: /*/media/oembed
# Paths (no clean URLs)
Disallow: /index.php/admin/
Disallow: /index.php/comment/reply/
Disallow: /index.php/filter/tips
Disallow: /index.php/node/add/
Disallow: /index.php/search/
Disallow: /index.php/user/password
Disallow: /index.php/user/register
Disallow: /index.php/user/login
Disallow: /index.php/user/logout
Disallow: /index.php/media/oembed
Disallow: /index.php/*/media/oembed
sitemap.xml 200 OK
Type Sitemap Index URLs 53 entries Valid XML Yes
Child Sitemaps:
A+
Domain Intelligence
mediamatters.org — via Network Solutions, LLC, 22 years, 9 months old
PASS
mediamatters.org — via Network Solutions, LLC, 22 years, 9 months old
Info::
Domain registered until Oct 27, 2026 (6 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: Network Solutions, LLC
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

134 days

October 27, 2026

SSL certificate

60 days

Issued by Let's Encrypt

Domain age

22 years, 9 months

Registered October 27, 2003

DNSSEC

Not enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

Unknown

2620:12a:8001::1

Registrar

Network Solutions, LLC

Unlocked 3 NS records
Expiry timeline
Today
+1 year
Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)
Recommended actions
  • Enable DNSSEC to protect visitors from DNS spoofing
  • Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Registrar Network Solutions, LLC
Created October 27, 2003 (22 years, 9 months ago)
Expires October 27, 2026 (6 months)
Last Updated September 2, 2025
Name Servers ns1.slicehost.net, ns2.slicehost.net, ns3.slicehost.net
DNSSEC Not enabled
Hosting
IP Address 2620:12a:8001::1
Data source: rdap (0.4s)

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 58 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
PASS
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
52 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
0 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
3 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
59 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
59 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 52 ms TCP Connect 0 ms TLS Handshake 3 ms Server Processing 3 ms Content Transfer 0 ms
A+
CDN & Delivery
Fastly (HIT, MISS)
PASS
Fastly (HIT, MISS)
Info::
Site is served via Fastly CDN
Got: x-served-by: cache-toj-leto2350069-TOJ, cache-toj-leto2350069-TOJ
Info::
CDN cache status: HIT, MISS
CDN Detected: Fastly
Provider Fastly Cache Status HIT, MISS Evidence x-served-by: cache-toj-leto2350069-TOJ, cache-toj-leto2350069-TOJ
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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