Is www.westword.com safe?

http://www.westword.com/

SafeStatus

Coveragecomplete4 of 4 applicable core capabilities

Verdict

Denver Westword appears to be a safe, established local news website

The site presents Denver news content under the Westword name, whose published history dates to 1977. Current checks found a valid encrypted connection, no browser threat warning, and no malicious or suspicious detections across 92 security engines. Its visible conversion features are a newsletter form and a “Support Us” link, not an observed scam or harmful transaction flow.

The site appears safe to browse. As with any advertising-supported news site, review privacy terms before subscribing to newsletters and independently assess any third-party advertisement or external link before making a purchase.
Read full analysis
Calibrated safety spectrum

Where this site sits

  1. Dangerous1–20
  2. High Risk21–44
  3. Moderate Risk45–69
  4. Low Risk70–84
  5. Safe85–100

The score combines saved evidence strength and analysis quality. Coverage is reported separately.

01 · Investigation Brief

Investigation Brief

The site presents Denver news content under the Westword name, whose published history dates to 1977. Current checks found a valid encrypted connection, no browser threat warning, and no malicious or suspicious detections across 92 security engines. Its visible conversion features are a newsletter form and a “Support Us” link, not an observed scam or harmful transaction flow.

Established publication with verifiable contact information

Westword’s About page says its first print issue appeared on September 1, 1977, while its contact page lists an office at 1278 Lincoln Street, Suite 100, Denver, Colorado.

The reviewed homepage shows Denver Westword branding, editorial navigation, and a newsletter sign-up prompt consistent with a news publication.

Clean technical checks and ordinary audience-engagement links

The saved checks found valid encryption, no browser threat warning, and zero malicious or suspicious detections across 92 engines. These checks support technical safety, although they cannot by themselves guarantee every piece of content or advertisement.

The page invites visitors to enter an email address for newsletters and offers a “Support Us” link. It also links to external social platforms including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, and Threads; the supplied evidence does not show these links forming a deceptive purchase or payment path.

Why the score is 96

The score combines saved deterministic evidence with the grounded analysis available for this report. Coverage remains separate so missing sources cannot be mistaken for clean results.

02 · Security Evidence

Security evidence

Collected signals and independent provider data for this URL.

Antivirus Engines

0/ 92

No detections

Fresh result

No detections across 92 engines

No antivirus engine in this saved scan raised an adverse result. This is one signal, not a guarantee.

Malicious
0
Suspicious
0
Total
92
All 92 engine results
  • 0xSI_f33d - unrated - Clean
  • Abusix - clean - Clean
  • Acronis - clean - Clean
  • ADMINUSLabs - clean - Clean
  • AILabs (MONITORAPP) - clean - Clean
  • AlienVault - clean - Clean
  • alphaMountain.ai - unrated - Clean
  • AlphaSOC - unrated - Clean
  • Antiy-AVL - clean - Clean
  • ArcSight Threat Intelligence - unrated - Clean
  • AutoShun - unrated - Clean
  • Bfore.Ai PreCrime - unrated - Clean
  • BitDefender - clean - Clean
  • Bkav - unrated - Clean
  • BlockList - clean - Clean
  • Blueliv - clean - Clean
  • Certego - clean - Clean
  • ChainPatrol - unrated - Clean
  • Chong Lua Dao - clean - Clean
  • CINS Army - clean - Clean
  • CRDF - clean - Clean
  • Criminal IP - clean - Clean
  • CSIS Security Group - unrated - Clean
  • CTX AI - clean - Clean
  • Cyan - unrated - Clean
  • Cyble - clean - Clean
  • CyRadar - clean - Clean
  • desenmascara.me - clean - Clean
  • DNS8 - unrated - Clean
  • Dr.Web - clean - Clean
  • EmergingThreats - clean - Clean
  • Emsisoft - clean - Clean
  • Ermes - unrated - Clean
  • ESET - clean - Clean
  • ESTsecurity - clean - Clean
  • Forcepoint ThreatSeeker - clean - Clean
  • Fortinet - clean - Clean
  • Fortra - unrated - Clean
  • G-Data - clean - Clean
  • GCP Abuse Intelligence - unrated - Clean
  • Google Safe Browsing - clean - Clean
  • GreenSnow - clean - Clean
  • GreyNoise - unrated - Clean
  • Gridinsoft - unrated - Clean
  • Guardpot - unrated - Clean
  • Heimdal Security - clean - Clean
  • Hunt.io Intelligence - unrated - Clean
  • IPsum - clean - Clean
  • Juniper Networks - clean - Clean
  • K7AntiVirus - unrated - Clean
  • Kaspersky - clean - Clean
  • LevelBlue - clean - Clean
  • Lionic - clean - Clean
  • Lumu - unrated - Clean
  • Malwared - clean - Clean
  • MalwarePatrol - clean - Clean
  • MalwareURL - unrated - Clean
  • Mimecast - unrated - Clean
  • Netcraft - unrated - Clean
  • OpenPhish - clean - Clean
  • PhishFort - unrated - Clean
  • Phishing Database - clean - Clean
  • Phishtank - clean - Clean
  • PREBYTES - clean - Clean
  • PrecisionSec - unrated - Clean
  • Quick Heal - clean - Clean
  • Quttera - clean - Clean
  • Rising - clean - Clean
  • SafeToOpen - unrated - Clean
  • Sangfor - clean - Clean
  • Sansec eComscan - unrated - Clean
  • Scantitan - clean - Clean
  • SCUMWARE.org - clean - Clean
  • Seclookup - clean - Clean
  • Snort IP sample list - unrated - Clean
  • SOCRadar - unrated - Clean
  • Sophos - clean - Clean
  • StopForumSpam - clean - Clean
  • Sucuri SiteCheck - clean - Clean
  • Synthient - unrated - Clean
  • ThreatHive - clean - Clean
  • URLhaus - clean - Clean
  • URLQuery - unrated - Clean
  • Viettel Threat Intelligence - clean - Clean
  • VIPRE - unrated - Clean
  • ViriBack - clean - Clean
  • VX Vault - clean - Clean
  • Webroot - clean - Clean
  • Xcitium Verdict Cloud - clean - Clean
  • Yandex Safebrowsing - clean - Clean
  • ZeroCERT - clean - Clean
  • ZeroFox - unrated - Clean

Security Scans

Browser Threat Feed
Not flagged on major threat lists

Checked against the browser threat feeds available to this scan — no hit.

What we observed

CAPTURED PAGE
www.westword.com
Visual analysis

Visual context from the captured page

The screenshot shows the Denver Westword homepage with a 50th Anniversary banner, navigation menu, and a newsletter sign-up pop-up.

Context only

What the captured page showed

1 observation
  1. 01

    The screenshot shows the Denver Westword homepage with a 50th Anniversary banner, navigation menu, and a newsletter sign-up pop-up.

03 · Investigation Story

Investigation story

The behavior, reputation, and operator evidence that explains how this site may affect a visitor.
  1. What the site claims

    Denver Westword | The Leading Independent News Source in Denver, Colorado

  2. What we observed

    Saved browser evidence recorded popups, cross domain landing.

  3. What independent research found

    2 external findings were saved and compared with the page evidence.

  4. What remains unverified

    The checks completed, but ownership, business claims, and future site behavior can still change after this snapshot.

What kind of site and risk is this?

Threat category

No threat category confirmed

Service and business model

Content

Advertising

Observed behavior

PopupsCross Domain Landing

Evidence behind this classification

  1. 01Westword states that its first print issue was published in 1977, and the domain has been registered for more than 11,000 days.
  2. 02Westword states that its first print issue was published in 1977, and the domain has been registered for more than 11,000 days.
  3. 03The saved evidence shows valid encryption, no browser threat warning, and no malicious or suspicious detections across 92 engines.

Web research findings

Independent findings for www.westword.com, including public complaints, named review sources, registration records, and look-alike-domain evidence. A missing result is shown as unverified, never converted into a clean bill of health.

Business registration
No public record found
Could not match the site to a registered company — common for small sites.
Clone check
No clone detected
The completed research found no supported clone indicator.
Typosquat check
No look-alike match
The completed research found no supported look-alike match.
Web mentions
2 positive
Positive reviews (2)
Public quotes that support the operator's credibility.
  • About Us | Denver Westwordopen

    "Since its first print issue on September 1, 1977, Westword has carved out a place in the cultural firmament of the Mile High City."

  • Contact | Denver Westwordopen

    "1278 Lincoln Street, Suite 100 Denver, CO 80203"

Reputation Sources

How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.

Google Safe Browsing
Not listedCheck ↗
VirusTotal
Not listedCheck ↗
AbuseIPDB
Not listedCheck ↗

04 · Domain & Infrastructure

Domain & infrastructure

Timeline · identity · encryption · redirects · hosting

The plumbing behind the site — who registered it, how it’s encrypted, where it’s hosted, and where it links out. A valid certificate or a calm server doesn’t mean the business is honest — scam sites pass these checks too. Use this to corroborate the verdict, not to overturn it.

Infrastructure map

How the saved page connected to the wider web.

  1. Domainwww.westword.com
  2. Redirects towww.westword.com
  3. Hosted byAutomattic, Inc
  4. Referencesgmpg.org · cdn.parsely.com

Domain Timeline

  1. Jun 21, 1995
    Domain registered

    First appeared in WHOIS records — 31 years old when this review was saved.

  2. Oct 2, 2026
    Saved security review — Reviewed as safe

    This saved scan found no active threat signals in the checks it completed.

www.westword.com has operated for years with no threat signals in this review — a long, stable track record, though it is never a guarantee on its own.

Contact Verification

Saved contact details can help identify the operator. Their presence supports traceability; it does not prove the business is trustworthy.

What We Found
No clear contact details on the page
Emails on site's domainNone
Phone numbersNone
Postal addressNot listed
Linked social profiles3
Signal Summary
Contact details look reasonable
  • No direct contact email found on the captured page.
  • Links to 3 social profiles.

Domain & Encryption

Domain History
Age31 years old
RegistrarGoDaddy.com, LLC
RegisteredJun 21, 1995
ExpiresJun 20, 2027
Owner privacyUnknown
Encryption Certificate
StatusValid
ProtocolTLSv1.3
IssuerLet's Encrypt · YE1
ExpiresDec 21, 2026 (79d)
Self-signedNo
Hosting & Technology
HostingAutomattic, Inc
Server locationUS
Web servernginx
Platform / CMSWordPress
PopularityNot in popularity top list

Redirect Chain

Hops
1
Cross-domain
No
Lookalike
No
Punycode
No
  • 1301http://www.westword.com/
  • 2200https://www.westword.com/

Server Reputation

Abuse Intelligence
Confidence score0%
Reports on file0
ISPAutomattic, Inc
Usage typeContent Delivery Network

Referenced Domains

05 · Evidence Ledger

Evidence ledger

Coverage, provenance, and source freshness remain separate so a missing check is never mistaken for a clean result.
  1. Antiviruscomplete
  2. Browser threat feedcomplete
  3. Page contentcomplete
  4. Analysiscomplete
  5. Visual evidencecomplete
Completed analysis

The conclusion is supported by the evidence saved with this report.

Technical threat

unknown

Malware, phishing, credential theft and hostile infrastructure.

No confirmed evidence in this dimension.

Operator / customer risk

unknown

Complaints, withdrawals, business conduct and commercial traps.

No confirmed evidence in this dimension.

Source coverage and freshness

Status shows whether usable evidence was saved; finding shows what that evidence observed.

Antivirus
Result0 of 92 engines flagged
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
Freshnessfresh · Oct 2, 2026
Browser protection
ResultNo browser threat-list match
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available
Page content
ResultPage fetched · HTTP 200
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available
Visual evidence
Result1 visible observation saved with the page capture
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available
Independent research
Result2 independent findings were saved
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available

06 · Your Next Move

Your next move

Still, stay alert

No major threat indicators — but a clean scan does not guarantee every page is safe, and phishing emails routinely spoof real domains.

  1. Double-check the exact URL in your address bar

    Confirm you are actually on www.westword.com and not a lookalike like w-ww.westword.com or an IDN homoglyph.

  2. Use a password manager

    Password managers only auto-fill on the exact domain they were saved for — they refuse to fill lookalike domains, which is the single best phishing defence.

  3. Discuss this site on the forum

    If you have first-hand experience with this site — good or bad — share it with the MalwareTips community.

    Open

07 · Safety FAQ

Safety FAQ

Common questions, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers reflect the saved verdict and evidence in this report.

Is www.westword.com legit and safe?
Our automated security review found no threat indicators on www.westword.com, so it appears legitimate. All 92 antivirus engines we queried report it clean, and the domain is 31.3 years old, registered on June 21, 1995 — established domains are far less likely to be scams. Even so, always double-check the exact address in your browser, because phishing emails routinely spoof real, trusted domains like this one.
Is www.westword.com safe to use?
www.westword.com has a Safety Score of 96/100 (Safe). Core checks and semantic analysis found no material threat at scan time. Treat unexpected login or payment requests with normal caution.
Could a legitimate site like www.westword.com still be used in a scam?
Yes — and this is worth understanding. Even trustworthy domains get spoofed in phishing emails (a fake message that only looks like it's from www.westword.com), and legitimate sites are occasionally compromised on specific pages. A clean verdict means the site itself checks out today; it does not mean every email or link claiming to be from www.westword.com is genuine. Always reach the site by typing the address yourself rather than clicking links in unexpected messages.
Has www.westword.com been flagged by antivirus engines?
No — all 92 antivirus and blocklist engines in our malware network currently report www.westword.com as clean. That's a good sign, though antivirus coverage is only one of the many signals we weigh, and brand-new scam sites can appear clean before vendors catch up.
Is www.westword.com on any phishing or malware blacklists?
No — www.westword.com is not currently on the major browser blocklist feeds that Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge rely on. Note that blocklists can lag behind brand-new scam domains, so "not listed" is reassuring but not a guarantee on its own.
How old is the www.westword.com domain?
www.westword.com is 31.3 years old, registered on June 21, 1995 through GoDaddy.com, LLC. A multi-year registration history is one of the stronger signals against a scam, though it's never a guarantee on its own — established domains can still be misused.
Does www.westword.com have a valid SSL certificate?
Yes — www.westword.com presents a valid TLSv1.3 certificate issued by Let's Encrypt · YE1, valid for another 79 days. Important caveat: SSL only encrypts the connection between you and the site — it does not verify who runs it. Almost all scam sites now have valid SSL too, so a padlock alone never means "safe".
Where is www.westword.com hosted?
www.westword.com resolves to an IP operated by Automattic, Inc in US (Content Delivery Network). Hosting location alone doesn't make a site good or bad — but hosting that doesn't match a brand's claimed country, or that sits on networks known for abuse, is one of the many signals we weigh alongside the verdict above.
How often is the www.westword.com report updated?
This report is a record of the scan run on October 2, 2026, and the verdict reflects that point in time. Scam sites change fast — they can go live, get flagged, or vanish within days — so if you believe something about www.westword.com has changed, MalwareTips staff can run a fresh scan that re-checks every signal from scratch and republishes an updated verdict.

08 · Final Verdict

Final verdict

The saved conclusion, decisive evidence, and practical action in one final view.
Verdict score
96/100
Safe

Denver Westword appears to be a safe, established local news website

Saved capturewww.westword.comCapture-safe
Captured during this scan. Opening this report does not revisit the site.
Conclusion

The site presents Denver news content under the Westword name, whose published history dates to 1977. Current checks found a valid encrypted connection, no browser threat warning, and no malicious or suspicious detections across 92 security engines. Its visible conversion features are a newsletter form and a “Support Us” link, not an observed scam or harmful transaction flow.

Recommended actionThe site appears safe to browse. As with any advertising-supported news site, review privacy terms before subscribing to newsletters and independently assess any third-party advertisement or external link before making a purchase.
Saved evidence only

Missing checks are never treated as a clean result.

Scan another URL
Continue toCommunity

09 · Community

Community

First-hand experiences add human context after the scanner has reached its conclusion.