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Security report for cookpad.com

Cookpad · E-commerce · Japan

Low risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

Cookpad is Japan's largest cooking recipe platform, offering over 3.95 million recipes and serving approximately 51 million monthly users. The platform enables users to search for recipes, post their own, and engage in community challenges. It also offers premium services with curated content. Technically, the website uses modern web technologies including Turbo (Hotwire), Webpack, AWS hosting, and Google Analytics 4 for performance and user monitoring. The site is mobile-optimized and provides a professional user experience with clear navigation and branding. Security posture is solid with HTTPS, CSRF protections, and domain transfer restrictions, though DNSSEC is not enabled and some security headers are not evident. Privacy compliance is limited as no explicit privacy or cookie policies were found in the provided content. Overall, Cookpad presents a trustworthy and mature digital presence with room for improvement in privacy transparency and DNS security.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

4 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. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

  3. 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

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 19 days

      What to do: Renew SSL certificate before expiration

      • NIS2 21(2)(h)
      • IR 2024/2690 9.2(c): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 9.2(c): Cryptography
      • NIST SC-17: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-17: Public Key Infrastructure Certificates

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

Keep watching cookpad.com

This scan found 16 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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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
85
Security headers
65
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
79

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 cookpad.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
11,509
Employees
9
Customers
11,308
Third parties
192
Weak passwords
27%

Latest record dated 2026-06-07 · 8 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 cookpad.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –cookpad.com2026-06-07
  • –cookpad.com2026-05-11
  • –blog.cookpad.com2026-05-11
  • –blog.cookpad.com2025-09-21
  • –cookpad.com2025-08-24

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

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Cookpad holds a dominant market position in Japan's recipe sharing and cooking community sector. Its business model combines free user-generated content with premium subscription offerings, targeting home cooks and food enthusiasts. The platform's extensive recipe database and active user base provide competitive advantages. Revenue streams likely include premium subscriptions and advertising. The company demonstrates strong branding consistency and leverages partnerships with content delivery networks and analytics providers. Growth indicators include a large user base and continuous content updates. Strategic observations suggest focusing on enhancing privacy compliance and security transparency to maintain user trust and regulatory alignment.

Security posture

Cookpad's security maturity is moderate to good. The use of HTTPS, CSRF tokens, and clientTransferProhibited domain status are positive indicators. However, the absence of DNSSEC and lack of visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options suggest areas for enhancement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analyzed content. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not evident, which could impact readiness and transparency. Compliance with GDPR or similar regulations is unclear due to missing privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the security posture supports business operations but would benefit from formalized policies and technical hardening.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies accessible from the main site to improve compliance and user trust.
  3. Implement and verify security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Enhance transparency around data collection and retention policies to align with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Cookpad
Description
日本最大の料理レシピサービス。395万品を超えるレシピから作り方を検索。家庭の簡単実用レシピが多数。月間利用者数約5,100万人。自分のレシピを公開できます。
Key services
Recipe search, Recipe posting, Premium recipe content, Recipe challenges
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Webpack, AWS RUM (Real User Monitoring), Google Analytics 4, Typekit Fonts
Frameworks
Turbo (Hotwire)
Platforms
Web, iOS (Apple App Store app id referenced)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by canonical URL and Google Analytics config)
  • CSRF tokens present in meta tags
  • Client transfer prohibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics 4, AWS RUM
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics 4
Marketing tools
Facebook Event Tracking
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 and not blocked by WAF.
  2. Content is in Japanese targeting Japanese users.
  3. Strong brand presence with consistent logos and metadata.
  4. Multiple user engagement features like recipe posting, bookmarking, and challenges.
  5. No explicit privacy or cookie policy links found in the provided HTML snippet.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  7. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content.
  8. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
Technical notes

Notes

The website employs a modern technology stack including Turbo (Hotwire) for fast navigation, Webpack for asset bundling, and AWS for hosting and DNS services. Google Analytics 4 and AWS RUM are used for analytics and real user monitoring. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices and uses Typekit for fonts. Performance appears fast with deferred script loading and preconnect hints. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or framework-based solution. Technical debt is minimal based on the provided content, but the lack of DNSSEC and some security headers indicates opportunities for modernization and risk reduction.
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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