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Security report for archive.today

Archive.today · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Archive.ph (also known as archive.today) is a web archiving service that allows users to create permanent snapshots of webpages, preserving both text and graphical content. The service ensures that archived pages remain accessible even if the original content is removed or altered. It targets general internet users who want to preserve web content for reference or evidence. The website provides search functionality for archived snapshots and offers a simple interface for submitting URLs to archive. Technically, the website uses standard web technologies including HTML5, JavaScript, JSON-LD structured data, and supports OpenSearch and RSS feeds. The site is served over HTTPS, ensuring secure connections. However, mobile optimization and accessibility features are basic, and no major web frameworks or CMS platforms are detected. Performance is moderate, with some use of third-party scripts for analytics and advertising. From a security perspective, the site employs HTTPS and disables active scripts on archived pages to prevent malware risks. However, it lacks visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and does not publish privacy or cookie policies, which are important for GDPR compliance. Contact information is limited to a webmaster email and contact forms. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided, indicating room for improvement in security transparency. Overall, archive.ph is a niche but valuable service with moderate technical maturity and security posture. To enhance trust and compliance, the site should implement and publish privacy and cookie policies, improve security headers, and provide clearer incident response channels. These steps will strengthen user confidence and regulatory compliance while maintaining its core archival functionality.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 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

8 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching archive.today

This scan found 22 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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Full report

€39.90one-time

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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
20
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
63

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

Archive.ph operates in the technology sector, specifically in web archiving and digital preservation. Its business model centers on providing a free or low-cost service that captures and stores permanent snapshots of webpages, serving users who require reliable access to historical web content. The service's competitive advantage lies in its ability to archive dynamic Web 2.0 content and provide short, reliable links to unalterable records. The target customers include researchers, journalists, legal professionals, and general users concerned with link rot or content changes. The company appears to be small in size with no publicly disclosed parent company or subsidiaries. Its market position is niche but important for digital preservation. Revenue streams likely include advertising via Google Adsense and Mail.ru networks, as indicated by embedded scripts. The partnership ecosystem is minimal with no explicit partners identified. Growth indicators are not visible from the data, but the service's utility suggests steady demand. Strategic observations include the need to enhance privacy compliance and security transparency to align with evolving regulatory standards.

Security posture

The security maturity of archive.ph is moderate. The site enforces HTTPS, which is mandatory for secure communications. Archived pages are static and stripped of active scripts, reducing malware risks. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and others reduces protection against common web attacks. No privacy or cookie policies are published, indicating compliance gaps with GDPR and other privacy regulations. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not evident, limiting the site's ability to handle security incidents effectively. The use of third-party analytics and advertising scripts from Mail.ru introduces potential privacy concerns and tracking risks without explicit user consent mechanisms. Overall, while the core service is secure by design, the website's operational security and compliance posture require enhancements to meet best practices and regulatory expectations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy to improve GDPR compliance and user transparency.
  2. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to enhance protection against web attacks.
  3. Establish and publicize an incident response plan and vulnerability disclosure process to improve security readiness and trust.
  4. Improve mobile optimization and accessibility to enhance user experience across devices and for users with disabilities.
  5. Review and limit third-party tracking scripts or provide clear consent mechanisms to align with privacy best practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Archive.today
Description
archive.ph allows you to create a copy of a webpage that will always be up even if the original link is down. It takes a 'snapshot' of a webpage that will always be online even if the original page disappears. It saves a text and graphical copy of the page for better accuracy and provides a short and reliable link to an unalterable record of any web page including Web 2.0 sites.
Key services
Webpage capture, Permanent archival of webpages, Search archive for saved snapshots
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, JavaScript, JSON-LD, OpenSearch, RSS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Forms use GET method with no sensitive data
  • No active scripts on archived pages to prevent malware

Analytics and tracking

Services
Mail.ru analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense, Mail.ru
Tracking pixels
top-fwz1.mail.ru
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
basic
User experience
basic
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
basic
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website provides a useful web archiving service with snapshot and search features.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  3. Contact email and contact forms are present but limited to webmaster@archive.ph.
  4. No security policy or incident response information published.
  5. Use of Mail.ru analytics and advertising scripts may raise privacy concerns.
  6. No explicit security headers detected in the HTML content.
  7. Mobile optimization and accessibility are basic but functional.
  8. No adult or explicit content detected; content is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a straightforward technical stack with HTML5, JavaScript, and JSON-LD structured data for SEO and semantic clarity. It supports OpenSearch and RSS feeds for search and content syndication. The site is served over HTTPS, ensuring encrypted communication. Performance is moderate, with no heavy frameworks detected, which aids in faster loading times. However, mobile optimization is basic, and accessibility features are minimal, suggesting opportunities for modernization. The presence of third-party scripts for analytics and advertising (Mail.ru and Google Adsense) introduces external dependencies and potential privacy concerns. No CMS or major web frameworks are detected, indicating a custom or lightweight implementation. Technical risks include lack of security headers and limited compliance documentation, which could impact business operations if regulatory scrutiny increases.
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

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