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Security report for chriscoyier.net

Chris Coyier · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Chris Coyier's website serves as a professional personal brand platform showcasing his work as a web designer, developer, educator, and business owner. The site highlights his co-founding roles in CodePen and the ShopTalk Show podcast, and his long-term management of CSS-Tricks. The content is well-curated, targeting web development professionals and enthusiasts, with a strong emphasis on education and community engagement. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with Jetpack, uses Cloudflare DNS, and employs modern web technologies ensuring good performance and mobile optimization. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and domain lock statuses, though lacks some advanced security headers and explicit privacy/cookie policies. Overall, the site is trustworthy and professional but could improve compliance and security transparency.

Scanned

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

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 100 · Medium
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. 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 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

    • 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

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

Keep watching chriscoyier.net

This scan found 25 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.

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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
42
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
61

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

The website positions Chris Coyier as an influential figure in the web development community, leveraging content creation, educational resources, and community platforms as core business models. Revenue streams likely include sponsorships, advertising, and platform partnerships. The target audience includes front-end developers, designers, and educators. The partnership ecosystem includes CodePen and ShopTalk Show, enhancing market reach. The site reflects a small but impactful business with strong brand recognition and community trust.

Security posture

The security maturity is moderate to good. HTTPS is enforced, and domain registration includes protective status flags. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers like Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options represents areas for improvement. No incident response or security policy information is published, which could hinder rapid response to security events. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing policies and consent mechanisms. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  3. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  4. Consider adding a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information.
  5. Use a company domain email address for contact to improve professionalism and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Chris Coyier
Description
Chris Coyier is a web designer, developer, educator, and business owner focused on helping others improve at web design and development. He is co-founder of CodePen and the ShopTalk Show podcast, and previously ran CSS-Tricks for 15 years.
Key services
Web design and development education, CodePen social front-end development environment, ShopTalk Show podcast
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Jetpack plugin, Cloudflare DNS, PHP, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited, clientRenewProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
Jetpack Stats, Gauges
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Jetpack Stats, Gauges
Marketing tools
Jetpack Instant Search
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a personal/business site for Chris Coyier, a recognized figure in web development.
  2. Content is rich, professional, and well-structured with clear navigation.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. Uses WordPress CMS with Jetpack plugin and Cloudflare DNS.
  5. No security headers detected in provided data; SSL is enabled and good.
  6. Contact email is a generic Gmail address, which may reduce perceived professionalism.
  7. No phone numbers or physical addresses found.
  8. Social media presence is strong with multiple platforms linked.
  9. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  10. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a mature and widely supported CMS (WordPress) with Jetpack plugin for enhanced functionality including search and stats. Hosting and DNS are managed by reputable providers (GoDaddy and Cloudflare). The site demonstrates good performance and mobile optimization, with modern CSS and JavaScript usage. There is no evidence of outdated or vulnerable libraries. The technical implementation supports a positive user experience and SEO, though some technical security enhancements are recommended.
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. 61/100Medium32 findingsView report
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