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Security report for ahrefs.com

Ahrefs · Technology · Singapore

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Ahrefs is a well-established technology company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Singapore. It specializes in providing advanced marketing intelligence tools powered by big data, primarily targeting digital marketers, SEO professionals, and content marketers globally. The company operates a SaaS business model offering a suite of SEO, content marketing, PPC, and digital PR tools, supported by comprehensive learning materials. The website reflects a strong market position with professional branding and consistent messaging aligned with its business objectives. Technically, the website employs a modern technology stack including JavaScript frameworks, Cloudflare for DNS and CDN services, and integrates multiple marketing and analytics tools such as Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Google Analytics, and Twitter tracking. The site is optimized for performance, mobile responsiveness, and SEO, demonstrating a mature digital infrastructure. From a security perspective, the website uses HTTPS with strong SSL configuration and implements clientTransferProhibited status on the domain to prevent unauthorized transfers. Cookie consent mechanisms are in place, and privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant. However, there is no explicit security policy or incident response contact information publicly available, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file is found, which could be areas for improvement. Overall, Ahrefs presents a low-risk profile with a trustworthy domain registration history, consistent business information, and no detected security vulnerabilities or suspicious content. Strategic recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, publishing a dedicated security policy, and establishing a vulnerability disclosure program to further enhance trust and security posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of ahrefs.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  2. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching ahrefs.com

This scan found 19 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
65
Security headers
80
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
77

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Ahrefs holds a strong position in the SEO and digital marketing technology sector, leveraging a SaaS subscription model to deliver its services. Its competitive advantage lies in its comprehensive toolset powered by big data and a global user base. The company targets professional marketers and agencies seeking actionable insights to improve search engine traffic and digital campaigns. Revenue streams are primarily subscription-based, supported by educational content that enhances user engagement and retention. The presence on multiple social media platforms and integration with major analytics and advertising services indicate a robust partnership ecosystem. The company’s operations reflect a focus on innovation, customer education, and global market penetration.

Security posture

The security posture of Ahrefs is solid, with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections enabled. The use of Cloudflare DNS and CDN adds a layer of security and performance enhancement. Cookie consent and privacy policies demonstrate compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR. However, the absence of a publicly available security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms suggests room for maturity in security governance. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the website content. The overall security score is high but could be improved by formalizing security communication and disclosure practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent DNS spoofing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  3. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Add explicit incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain compliance with evolving regulations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ahrefs
Description
Ahrefs builds online SEO tools and creates free learning materials that help millions of website owners around the globe to get more traffic from search engines.
Key services
SEO tools, Content marketing tools, PPC tools, Digital PR tools, Learning materials
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Cloudflare (DNS and CDN), CookieYes (cookie consent management), Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Google Analytics / Google Ads, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Frameworks
Schema.org JSON-LD structured data
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data found in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Twitter Universal Website Tag, Google Analytics / Google Ads
Marketing tools
CookieYes, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Twitter Tag
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no WAF blocking or security challenges.
  2. Comprehensive SEO and marketing intelligence platform with strong global presence.
  3. Use of modern web technologies and multiple marketing/analytics tools.
  4. Good privacy and cookie policy implementation with consent mechanism.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response contact publicly found.
  6. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt detected.
  7. WHOIS data consistent and domain age appropriate.
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  9. High quality, professional website design and content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website infrastructure is modern and well-optimized, utilizing JavaScript modules and advanced front-end frameworks likely including React. Hosting and DNS services are provided by Cloudflare, ensuring fast content delivery and protection against common web threats. The site includes multiple tracking and marketing scripts for analytics and retargeting, integrated with major platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, and Twitter. Performance is fast with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. The technical setup supports a professional and scalable SaaS platform with minimal technical debt visible from the front-end analysis.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 83/100 +2Low23 findingsView report
  2. 81/100 +6Low24 findingsView report
  3. 75/100Medium22 findingsView report
  4. 75/100 −1Medium22 findingsView report
  5. 76/100 +3Low26 findingsView report
  6. 73/100Medium23 findingsView report
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