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Security report for carbonads.net

Carbon Ads · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Carbon Ads is a specialized advertising platform focused on delivering native advertising solutions to developers and creators through an exclusive network of over 600 hand-picked tech sites. Established in 2010, the company positions itself as a trusted partner for advertisers seeking to engage technical audiences with authentic and respectful ad campaigns. The website demonstrates a professional and consistent brand presence, supported by testimonials and case studies from reputable clients, enhancing its credibility in the niche market. Technically, the website leverages modern JavaScript, HubSpot forms for lead capture, and integrates with the BuySellAds advertising network. However, the absence of a valid SSL certificate and HTTPS support is a critical security shortfall, exposing users to potential risks and undermining trust. Performance is moderate with some room for improvement, and mobile optimization is good. SEO and accessibility are adequately addressed, though security headers and advanced protections are lacking. From a security perspective, the site lacks essential protections such as TLS encryption, HSTS, DMARC, DNSSEC, and CAA records. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present. These gaps represent significant risks, especially given the site's role in handling advertising campaigns and user data via forms. Overall, while Carbon Ads presents a strong business model and market position with quality content and user engagement, its security posture requires urgent enhancement to protect users and maintain trust. Strategic improvements in SSL deployment, security headers, and privacy compliance will significantly elevate the platform's reliability and reputation.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of carbonads.net. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
40/ 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

7 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.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  2. 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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching carbonads.net

This scan found 23 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

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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
85
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
40
Average
52

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

Carbon Ads operates in the technology advertising sector, targeting developers and creators with native advertising solutions. Its competitive advantage lies in its curated network of tech-focused sites and a respectful approach to advertising that resonates with its audience. The business model centers on connecting advertisers with publishers through managed campaigns rather than self-serve options, emphasizing quality and performance. Revenue streams likely include ad sales and campaign management fees. The company demonstrates growth and stability with a 15-year domain age and partnerships with BuySellAds and Stripe for payments. The presence of detailed case studies and testimonials indicates a mature partnership ecosystem and a focus on measurable results. Strategic observations suggest opportunities for expanding self-serve capabilities and enhancing security to support scaling.

Security posture

The current security maturity level of Carbon Ads is low due to the absence of HTTPS and valid SSL certificates, which is a critical vulnerability. The lack of security headers, DNSSEC, DMARC, and CAA records further weakens the domain's security posture. No published security policies or incident response contacts reduce transparency and readiness for handling security incidents. The use of secure payment processing via Stripe is a positive aspect, but overall data protection and compliance measures appear minimal. These gaps expose the business to risks including data interception, phishing, and domain spoofing. Compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations is not clearly demonstrated, and cookie consent mechanisms are missing. Improving these areas is essential to protect user data and maintain business continuity.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a valid SSL/TLS certificate and enforce HTTPS across the entire site immediately.
  2. Configure and enable security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Establish and publish a comprehensive privacy policy with GDPR compliance and a cookie consent mechanism.
  4. Set up DMARC, DNSSEC, and CAA DNS records to enhance domain security and prevent spoofing.
  5. Develop and publish an incident response policy and provide clear security contact channels to improve transparency and readiness.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern JavaScript and integrates HubSpot forms for lead capture, indicating a moderate level of digital maturity. It uses BuySellAds for advertising delivery and Fullres analytics for tracking user interactions. Hosting appears to be on Amazon AWS infrastructure. Performance is moderate with a page load time of over 6 seconds and a resource count of 99, suggesting potential optimization opportunities. Mobile optimization is good, and SEO practices are well implemented with meta tags and structured data. However, the lack of HTTPS and security best practices introduces technical risks that could impact user trust and business operations. Modernization efforts should focus on security hardening and performance optimization to reduce technical debt and improve resilience.
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. 61/100Medium35 findingsView report
  2. 61/100 −1Medium34 findingsView report
  3. 62/100Medium34 findingsView report
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