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Security

· 12 checks — HTTP headers, CSP, TLS handshake, and cookie hygiene rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
80
GRADE
B
FIX
2
REVIEW
3
PASS
7
INFO
0
Checks
12
7 PASS 3 REVIEW 2 FIX
F
Content Security Policy
Action
No enforcing CSP policy found
FIX
No enforcing CSP policy found
Critical::
No Content-Security-Policy header found
CSP is the most effective defense against XSS attacks. Add a Content-Security-Policy header to restrict resource loading.
Expected: default-src 'self'
Info::
Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only is set but does not enforce
Report-Only logs violations but does not block them. Deploy an enforcing policy when ready.
Got: default-src * 'unsafe-inline' data: blob:; report-uri "https://montrealgazette.com/wp-json/pmd/v1/csp-report"; report-to…

CSP is the most effective defense against XSS attacks. Add a Content-Security-Policy header to restrict resource loading.

Expected: default-src 'self'
Why this matters

Without a CSP, a single XSS bug can exfiltrate everything users type — credentials, payment data, session tokens.

Learn more

Content-Security-Policy is the browser-enforced firewall against XSS. With a strict CSP, a script injection that would otherwise steal session cookies is silently blocked. Without it, your only defense is hoping every input on every form is escaped correctly forever. Start in Report-Only mode, fix violations, then graduate to enforcing.

Source: OWASP / MDN

Report-Only logs violations but does not block them. Deploy an enforcing policy when ready.

Why this matters

Report-Only CSP catches violations but doesn't block them — protection is only realized when you graduate to enforcing.

Learn more

Report-Only mode is the right starting point: deploy, monitor reports for a week, fix violations, then graduate to enforcing CSP. Sites that get stuck in Report-Only forever have all the operational cost of a CSP with none of the security benefit. Once your reports are clean, swap the header name to `Content-Security-Policy`.

Source: MDN CSP

D
security.txt
Action
No /.well-known/security.txt published
FIX

security.txt

No security.txt found at /.well-known/security.txt

C
Security Headers
Action
6 of 10 headers properly configured
REVIEW
6 of 10 headers properly configured
Info::
Strict-Transport-Security is properly configured (consider adding preload)
Got: max-age=31536000;includeSubdomains
Info::
X-Content-Type-Options is properly configured
Got: nosniff
Info::
X-Frame-Options is properly configured
Got: SAMEORIGIN
Info::
Referrer-Policy is properly configured
Got: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
Info::
Permissions-Policy is set
Got: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=(), interest-cohort=()
Critical::
Content-Security-Policy header is missing
CSP is the most important header for preventing XSS attacks. See the CSP section for detailed analysis.
Expected: default-src 'self'
Warning::
Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy header is missing
COOP isolates your browsing context, preventing cross-origin side-channel attacks. Set to 'same-origin'.
Expected: same-origin
Warning::
Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy header is missing
COEP prevents loading cross-origin resources without explicit permission. Required for SharedArrayBuffer and high-resolution timers.
Expected: require-corp
Warning::
X-Powered-By header reveals technology stack
This header discloses server technology (e.g. Express, PHP), helping attackers target known vulnerabilities. Remove it.
Got: WordPress VIP <https://wpvip.com>
Info::
Server header is present without version info
Got: nginx

CSP is the most important header for preventing XSS attacks. See the CSP section for detailed analysis.

Expected: default-src 'self'
Why this matters

Without a CSP, a single XSS bug can exfiltrate everything your users type — including credentials.

Learn more

Content-Security-Policy is the browser-enforced firewall against XSS. With a strict CSP, a script injection that would otherwise steal session cookies or rewrite the page is silently blocked. Without it, your only defense is hoping every input on every form is escaped correctly forever.

Source: OWASP / MDN

COOP isolates your browsing context, preventing cross-origin side-channel attacks. Set to 'same-origin'.

Expected: same-origin
Why this matters

COOP isolates your top-level browsing context from cross-origin windows — without it, popup-based side-channel attacks remain possible.

Learn more

Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin prevents cross-origin pages from sharing a browsing-context group with yours. This blocks cross-window references that enable Spectre-style timing attacks and tab-nabbing. Required if you want to enable SharedArrayBuffer.

Source: MDN / web.dev

COEP prevents loading cross-origin resources without explicit permission. Required for SharedArrayBuffer and high-resolution timers.

Expected: require-corp
Why this matters

COEP enforces that all embedded resources opt-in to cross-origin embedding — required for cross-origin isolation features.

Learn more

Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy: require-corp ensures every embedded resource (script, iframe, image) explicitly allows being loaded cross-origin. Combined with COOP, this enables the cross-origin-isolated context that unlocks SharedArrayBuffer, high-resolution timers, and other powerful APIs.

Source: MDN / web.dev

This header discloses server technology (e.g. Express, PHP), helping attackers target known vulnerabilities. Remove it.

Why this matters

X-Powered-By: PHP/7.4.3 advertises your stack to attackers — disable it.

Learn more

X-Powered-By and similar headers (X-AspNet-Version, X-Runtime) tell attackers which versions to target. Disable in your server/framework config: PHP `expose_php=Off`, ASP.NET `<httpRuntime enableVersionHeader="false">`, Express `app.disable('x-powered-by')`.

Source: OWASP

B
Permissions-Policy
4 directives, 2 missing
REVIEW
4 directives, 2 missing
Info::
camera=() — blocked for all origins
Info::
microphone=() — blocked for all origins
Info::
geolocation=() — blocked for all origins
Info::
interest-cohort=() — blocked for all origins
Info::
payment not restricted
Consider adding payment=() to block payment access from embedded content.
Info::
usb not restricted
Consider adding usb=() to block usb access from embedded content.

Raw Header

camera=() microphone=() geolocation=() interest-cohort=()

Feature Permissions

Blocked Self Only Unrestricted Not Set
camera Blocked
microphone Blocked
geolocation Blocked
interest-cohort Blocked
payment Not Set
usb Not Set
B
CORS Configuration
No CORS headers
REVIEW
No CORS headers
Info::
No CORS headers present — secure default
CORS Configuration Secure

No CORS headers detected.

Cross-origin requests are blocked by browser same-origin policy.

Origin reflection test

Some servers mirror the request Origin header, which can be exploited. Test manually:

curl -sI -H "Origin: https://evil.com" <url> | grep -i access-control
A+
TLS & Certificates
TLS 1.3, 7 checks passed
PASS
TLS 1.3, 7 checks passed
Info::
TLS 1.3 is used
Got: TLS 1.3
Info::
Strong cipher suite is used
Got: TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
Info::
HTTP/2 is not negotiated
HTTP/2 provides multiplexing and header compression for better performance.
Got: http/1.1
Info::
Certificate is valid (expires in 48 days)
Got: 2026-06-10T12:24:42Z
Info::
Certificate chain has 2 certificates
Info::
Certificate uses modern signature algorithm
Got: ECDSA-SHA384
Info::
Certificate covers 2 domain(s)
Got: montrealgazette.com, www.montrealgazette.com
Info::
Certificate is issued by a trusted CA
Got: CN=E8,O=Let's Encrypt,C=US

HTTP/2 provides multiplexing and header compression for better performance.

Why this matters

HTTP/1.1 forces the browser to make sequential requests, multiplying latency on every page.

Learn more

HTTP/2 (and HTTP/3) multiplex many requests over a single connection, eliminating head-of-line blocking. HTTP/1.1 forces the browser to either queue requests or open many parallel connections — both worse. Most modern web servers support HTTP/2 with one config line.

Source: MDN Web Docs

Connection
Protocol
TLS 1.3
Cipher Suite
TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256
HTTP Version
HTTP/1.1

Certificate Chain

Leaf Certificate
Subject CN=montrealgazette.comIssuer CN=E8,O=Let's Encrypt,C=USValid 2026-03-12T12:24:43Z → 2026-06-10T12:24:42ZExpires in 48 days SANs montrealgazette.com, www.montrealgazette.comSignature ECDSA-SHA384Serial 60b80ee53c4563e89689ea644f53b5e3cb1
Intermediate (CA Certificate)
Subject CN=E8,O=Let's Encrypt,C=USIssuer CN=ISRG Root X1,O=Internet Security Research Group,C=USValid 2024-03-13T00:00:00Z → 2027-03-12T23:59:59ZExpires in 324 days Signature SHA256-RSASerial 63959363c24e7082715918bfc3d7ed56
A+
Cookie Security
No cookies set — no cookie security risks
PASS
No cookies set — no cookie security risks
Info::
No cookies set — no cookie security risks

No cookies detected — no cookie security risks to report.

A+
Subresource Integrity
No external resources
PASS
No external resources
Info::
No external resources to protect
SRI Coverage No external resources — SRI not applicable
A+
JS Library Vulnerabilities
No known vulnerabilities
PASS
No known vulnerabilities
Info::
No known JavaScript library vulnerabilities detected

No known JavaScript library vulnerabilities detected.

A+
Information Leakage
No exposures
PASS
No exposures
Info::
No security.txt found
Consider adding a security.txt at /.well-known/security.txt.
Info::
No sensitive files exposed

No sensitive files exposed — all paths returned 404.

PathStatusCategoryRisk
/.git/HEAD Not foundVersion Control
/.git/config Not foundVersion Control
/.svn/entries Not foundVersion Control
/.env Not foundConfiguration
/.env.local Not foundConfiguration
/.env.production Not foundConfiguration
/wp-config.php Not foundConfiguration
/.htaccess Not foundConfiguration
/phpinfo.php Not foundDebug
/server-status Not foundDebug
/server-info Not foundDebug
/.well-known/security.txt Not foundSecurity Policy
A+
Email Security
DMARC: reject
PASS
DMARC: reject
Info::
DMARC policy is reject — strongest protection
DMARC
Policy reject — strongest protection Record v=DMARC1; p=reject; sp=reject; fo=1; rua=mailto:dmarc_rua@emaildefense.proofpoint.com; ruf=mailto:dmarc_ruf@emaildefense.proofpoint.com
A
Transport Security
HTTP/3, HSTS, and TLS version analysis
PASS
HTTP/3, HSTS, and TLS version analysis
Info::
HTTP/3 (QUIC) not advertised
HTTP/3 eliminates head-of-line blocking. If your CDN supports it, consider enabling it.
Info::
HSTS enabled (includeSubDomains)
Info::
TLS 1.3 in use (fastest handshake, 1-RTT)
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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