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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

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

Ahrefs is a leading marketing intelligence and SEO tool provider founded in 2010 and headquartered in Singapore. The company offers a comprehensive suite of digital marketing tools including site exploration, keyword research, rank tracking, site auditing, content exploration, and AI-powered content assistance. Their platform is trusted by a significant portion of Fortune 500 companies and is recognized for its robust data infrastructure and actionable insights. Technically, Ahrefs employs modern web technologies such as React, Cloudflare for hosting and security, and integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools to optimize user experience and data collection. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement and several security headers, though there is room for improvement in HSTS and XSS protection. Overall, the website is professional, well-structured, and compliant with privacy regulations, reflecting a mature digital presence. The risk posture is strong with no critical vulnerabilities detected, supporting a high trust level for users and partners.

Scanned

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

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 100 · High
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

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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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
57
Security headers
85
Email security
80
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
Average
76

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 operates in the technology sector, specifically focusing on SEO and digital marketing SaaS solutions. Their business model combines subscription-based services with free tools to attract and retain users. The company targets digital marketers, SEO professionals, agencies, and enterprises, offering tools that enhance search traffic and content marketing strategies. Ahrefs maintains a strong market position with a large user base and notable clients, including Fortune 500 companies. Their ecosystem includes partnerships with related service providers like wordcount.com and integrations with major platforms such as Google and Facebook. The company emphasizes educational content and community engagement to support customer success and brand loyalty.

Security posture

The security posture of Ahrefs is solid, with HTTPS enabled and multiple security headers implemented, including Content Security Policy and X-Frame-Options. The SSL certificate is valid and issued by a trusted authority. However, the HSTS header is present but not fully enabled with includeSubDomains or preload, and the X-XSS-Protection header is disabled, which could be improved. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided data. The site uses secure cookie attributes (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=None) and integrates third-party scripts responsibly. There is no public security policy or incident response information found, which is an area for potential enhancement. Overall, the site demonstrates good security hygiene appropriate for its business scale.

Recommendations

  1. Enable full HSTS with includeSubDomains and preload to strengthen HTTPS enforcement.
  2. Review and enable modern XSS protection mechanisms instead of disabling X-XSS-Protection.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan to enhance transparency and trust.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Implement additional security headers such as Permissions-Policy to further reduce attack surface.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Ahrefs Pte. Ltd.
Registration number
201227417H
Technical notes

Notes

Ahrefs' website is built using modern web technologies, including React for frontend rendering and Cloudflare for hosting and security services. The site employs advanced analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and LinkedIn Insight Tag. Performance is optimized with fast load times and mobile responsiveness. The site uses structured data (JSON-LD) for organization information, enhancing SEO and search engine understanding. The technical implementation reflects a mature, scalable infrastructure with good SEO and accessibility practices. There is no detected CMS, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. The site is well-maintained with comprehensive metadata and social media integration, supporting strong digital marketing efforts.
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 +4Low24 findingsView report
  3. 77/100 +2Low27 findingsView report
  4. 75/100Medium22 findingsView report
  5. 75/100 +2Medium22 findingsView report
  6. 73/100Medium23 findingsView report
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