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Security report for birchbox.com

Birchbox · Retail · N/a

Partial score · DNS & email only

75/100

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

Birchbox is a well-established e-commerce company specializing in customizable monthly subscription boxes for beauty products. The website presents a professional and polished digital presence, leveraging modern web technologies such as React and Next.js, integrated with a headless CMS (Prismic) and various marketing and analytics tools. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, providing a positive user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and use of reputable third-party scripts, though explicit security headers could be more visible. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and include consent mechanisms, indicating good compliance with GDPR. However, the absence of publicly available WHOIS data for the domain raises concerns about domain registration transparency, which slightly impacts business credibility. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professionally managed, but domain registration details should be clarified to enhance trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

Checks completed
5of 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

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

  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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching birchbox.com

This scan found 13 issues across 4 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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Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
72
Email security
65
DNS health
85
Network security
100
Average
81
After the cap
75

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • GDPR outside view: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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

Birchbox operates in the retail and e-commerce sector, focusing on beauty and personal care subscription services. Its business model centers on monthly subscription boxes allowing customers to select or receive curated beauty products. The company targets consumers interested in beauty and grooming, leveraging a strong brand presence and multiple social media channels for marketing. The website integrates affiliate marketing and advertising networks, supporting revenue streams beyond direct sales. Birchbox's market position is that of an established player with a large customer base. The company uses modern digital infrastructure and third-party services to optimize marketing and user engagement. No parent or subsidiary companies were identified from the data provided.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive data. It uses several third-party tracking and marketing scripts, which are common but require ongoing monitoring for vulnerabilities. Security headers are not explicitly visible in the provided data, suggesting room for improvement. No public security policy or incident response information was found, which could be enhanced to improve transparency and readiness. The lack of WHOIS data is a notable gap in domain trustworthiness. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from more explicit security disclosures and header implementations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against clickjacking and MIME sniffing.
  2. Clarify domain registration details and ensure WHOIS information is publicly available to improve business credibility.
  3. Provide a dedicated security policy and incident response page to increase transparency and preparedness.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate risks from external dependencies.
  5. Enhance contact information visibility, including verified company emails and phone numbers, to improve user trust and support.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Birchbox
Description
Birchbox offers a customizable subscription box service delivering premium beauty products monthly. Customers can choose products or receive curated selections tailored to their beauty goals.
Key services
Subscription beauty boxes, Members Market, Gifting, Beauty product shop
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Google Tag Manager, Refersion, Facebook Pixel, Awin, AccessiBe
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security-focused third-party scripts
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM)
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Dwin1
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Awin
Marketing tools
Refersion, Facebook Pixel
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 rich content and professional design.
  2. No WAF or security challenge detected.
  3. WHOIS data is missing or not publicly available, which is unusual for a commercial domain.
  4. Strong social media presence and multiple external trusted domains linked.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and good SEO and accessibility practices.
  6. Privacy and cookie policies are present with consent mechanisms.
  7. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage; contact likely via help center.
  8. No explicit security or incident response pages found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern tech stack including React and Next.js, supported by a headless CMS (Prismic) for content management. It integrates multiple marketing and analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Refersion, and Awin for affiliate marketing. The site is hosted on a platform compatible with Shopify integrations, indicating a robust e-commerce backend. Performance is optimized with responsive images and deferred script loading. Accessibility is addressed with the inclusion of AccessiBe scripts. The site shows good SEO practices with comprehensive meta tags and Open Graph data. No major technical debt or legacy technology was detected, indicating a well-maintained infrastructure.
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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