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Security report for descript.com

Descript · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Descript is a leading AI-powered video and podcast editing platform that enables users to create and edit multimedia content through text-based interfaces. The company targets content creators, marketing teams, and businesses seeking efficient and innovative video production tools. The website demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure leveraging modern frameworks like React and Next.js, hosted on Vercel, with integrated analytics and error monitoring services. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and monitoring tools, though explicit security headers and privacy policies are not publicly evident. Overall, the site is professional, well-branded, and trustworthy, though improvements in privacy compliance and WHOIS transparency are recommended.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

5 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 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

      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 descript.com

This scan found 19 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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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
72
Security headers
30
Email security
87
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
73

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

Descript operates a SaaS business model focused on AI-driven media editing tools, serving a large and diverse customer base including major enterprises such as Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of services including transcription, captions, AI avatars, and green screen effects, positioning itself as a versatile solution in the content creation market. The company leverages partnerships and integrations with video hosting and analytics providers to enhance user experience and marketing effectiveness. Growth indicators include extensive multimedia content and a strong brand presence. Strategic focus on AI innovation and user-friendly design supports competitive advantage.

Security posture

The website exhibits a good security maturity level with enforced HTTPS, use of Sentry for error tracking, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces the overall security robustness. Privacy and cookie policies are not clearly presented, indicating potential compliance gaps with GDPR and other regulations. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure information are not publicly available, which could impact transparency and trust. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from enhanced policy visibility and header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publicly display comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms to improve compliance and user trust.
  2. Add security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen defense against common web attacks.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response plan to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  4. Improve WHOIS data visibility or ensure domain registration information is accessible to reduce trust concerns.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks and optimize performance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Descript
Description
Edit your videos & podcasts just by typing. Descript's powerful AI editing tools let you make videos, podcasts, & short clips for social fast. Try it for free.
Key services
AI video editing, Podcast editing, Transcription, Captions and subtitles, AI avatars, Green screen and studio sound enhancements, Translation
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Wistia video player, Google Tag Manager, Segment analytics, Sentry error tracking, Vercel hosting
Frameworks
Next.js, React
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by external scripts and URLs)
  • Use of Sentry for error monitoring
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics 4, Segment, LinkedIn Insight, Twitter Universal Website Tag
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
LinkedIn Ads, Twitter Ads
Tracking pixels
LinkedIn, Segment
Marketing tools
Segment
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 multimedia content
  2. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service pages detected in provided HTML
  3. Strong use of modern web technologies and analytics
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in HTML content
  5. WHOIS data unavailable for www.descript.com, possibly due to querying subdomain
  6. Website targets professional content creators and businesses
  7. No adult or questionable content detected
  8. Multiple embedded Wistia videos for product demos
  9. Use of Builder.io CMS for content management
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack featuring React and Next.js frameworks, hosted on Vercel for performance and scalability. It integrates multiple third-party services including Wistia for video hosting, Segment and Google Analytics for data collection, and Sentry for error monitoring. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good accessibility practices. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured data in JSON-LD format. The use of Builder.io CMS allows flexible content management. Performance is fast with asynchronous loading of scripts and optimized media delivery. Technical risks are minimal but include reliance on multiple external services and lack of some security headers.
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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