Skip to main content

Security report for bit.ly

Bitly, Inc. · Technology · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Bitly, Inc. operates a leading Connections Platform that offers URL shortening, QR code generation, analytics, and landing page solutions targeted at businesses and marketers. The platform is widely adopted with millions of users and extensive integrations, positioning Bitly as a market leader in link management technology. The website demonstrates a mature technical infrastructure leveraging modern analytics and consent management tools, hosted on a reliable CDN with WordPress CMS. Security posture is strong, evidenced by SOC 2 Type 2 certification and GDPR/CCPA compliance, with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms implemented. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Overall, Bitly presents a professional, trustworthy, and technically sound online presence.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of bit.ly. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 100 · Low
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

2 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 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. 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 bit.ly

This scan found 19 issues across 5 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

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
74
Security headers
45
Email security
55
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
100
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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention bit.ly, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
11,949
Employees
0
Customers
11,891
Third parties
58
Weak passwords
13%

9 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for bit.ly.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Bitly's market positioning as a trusted link management platform is reinforced by its large customer base, extensive app integrations, and compliance with major privacy regulations. The business model is SaaS-based, generating revenue through tiered plans and enterprise solutions. The company targets diverse industries including retail, healthcare, finance, and technology, with a focus on enhancing digital engagement. Strategic partnerships with HubSpot and Canva expand its ecosystem. The presence of customer testimonials and detailed resource libraries further supports its credibility and customer engagement strategy.

Security posture

The website exhibits a high level of security maturity with enforced HTTPS, SOC 2 Type 2 certification, and comprehensive cookie consent management via OneTrust. Security best practices include no visible sensitive data exposure and secure form implementations. However, the absence of a public vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact details suggests areas for improvement in transparency and readiness. The use of multiple third-party analytics and marketing scripts necessitates ongoing monitoring to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security posture is robust but could benefit from enhanced disclosure and incident response mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve transparency and encourage responsible reporting.
  2. Add explicit incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses on the website.
  3. Enhance HTTP security headers by adding Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security headers.
  4. Conduct regular audits of third-party scripts and dependencies to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Improve accessibility compliance to reach an excellent rating, ensuring inclusivity for all users.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Bitly, Inc.
Description
Bitly’s Connections Platform is more than a free URL shortener, with robust link management software, advanced QR Code features, and a landing page solution.
Key services
URL Shortener, QR Code Generator, 2D Barcodes, Analytics, Landing Pages
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Snowplow Analytics, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, ProfitWell, jQuery
Frameworks
Foundation (CSS framework)
Platforms
WordPress (CMS)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • SOC 2 Type 2 certification
  • Cookie consent management via OneTrust
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with no visible vulnerabilities

Analytics and tracking

Services
Snowplow Analytics, Google Tag Manager, ProfitWell
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Bing Ads
Tracking pixels
Snowplow Analytics, ProfitWell
Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent, Snowplow Analytics, ProfitWell
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. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms in place.
  3. SOC 2 Type 2 certification prominently displayed, indicating strong security posture.
  4. Multiple integrations and extensive analytics/tracking scripts used.
  5. No exposed sensitive data or visible security vulnerabilities.
  6. No explicit incident response or security contact emails found.
  7. Comprehensive business information and trust signals present.
  8. Mobile and accessibility optimizations are good to excellent.
  9. WHOIS data confirms legitimacy and consistency with business claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS with a Foundation CSS framework, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools such as Snowplow and Google Tag Manager. Hosting is via Amazon CloudFront CDN, contributing to fast load times and global availability. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and includes accessibility features. Technical implementation is solid with valid HTML/CSS and comprehensive SEO meta tags. Opportunities exist to modernize security headers and streamline third-party script usage to reduce technical debt and potential risks.
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. 80/100 −2Low24 findingsView report
  2. 82/100Low23 findingsView report
  3. 82/100Low23 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with bit.ly. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review bit.ly.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.