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Security report for dreamhost.com

DreamHost · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

DreamHost is a well-established web hosting and domain registration provider offering a variety of services including managed WordPress hosting and business email solutions. The company targets small to medium businesses, developers, and enterprises seeking reliable hosting with a 100% uptime guarantee and 24/7 support. Their market position is strong within the technology sector, emphasizing growth and customer service. Technically, the website leverages modern frameworks such as React and Gatsby, ensuring fast performance, mobile optimization, and good accessibility. Integration of Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for cookie consent reflects a mature digital infrastructure. The site is hosted likely on DreamHost's own infrastructure or CDN, with excellent SSL and security headers implemented. From a security perspective, DreamHost demonstrates good practices including HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and captcha on forms. However, explicit security policies, incident response details, and vulnerability disclosure programs are not publicly available, which could be improved to enhance transparency and trust. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with privacy regulations such as GDPR. The lack of WHOIS data transparency slightly impacts trust but is likely due to privacy protection or query limitations. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies and establishing a vulnerability disclosure program to further strengthen security posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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

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 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';…

  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 dreamhost.com

This scan found 22 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

€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.

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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
82
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
72

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

DreamHost operates primarily in the technology sector as a web hosting and domain registration service provider. Their business model focuses on subscription-based hosting services and domain sales, targeting a broad customer base from individual bloggers to large enterprises. The company benefits from a strong brand reputation, 24/7 customer support, and a 100% uptime guarantee, which are key competitive advantages. Their partnership ecosystem includes integrations with Google services and other web technologies. Growth indicators include continuous technology adoption and a comprehensive service portfolio. DreamHost's operations are primarily US-based, serving a global clientele.

Security posture

DreamHost exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and integration of captcha to prevent automated abuse. Privacy compliance is strong with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. However, the absence of a publicly available security policy, incident response plan, and vulnerability disclosure program indicates gaps in transparency and formal security governance. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the website content. The company should consider publishing these documents and implementing a security.txt file to facilitate coordinated vulnerability disclosure and improve incident response readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a detailed security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program including a security.txt file.
  3. Enhance transparency around data protection officer contact and GDPR compliance details.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks.
  5. Continue investing in technical modernization and accessibility improvements to maintain competitive edge.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
DreamHost
Description
DreamHost offers domain names, web hosting, managed WordPress hosting, business email, and much more. 100% uptime guarantee, 24/7 support. Sign up today!
Key services
Domain registration, Web hosting, Managed WordPress hosting, Business email
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Gatsby, Google reCAPTCHA, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent
Frameworks
React, Gatsby
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • Captcha integration on forms
  • Cookie consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
ConvertExperiments
Transparency
basic

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. No WAF or security challenge detected.
  3. WHOIS data is unavailable or blocked, limiting domain registration transparency.
  4. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms are present.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response details publicly found.
  6. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  7. Multiple trusted external domains and social media links present.
  8. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks.
  9. Good SEO and accessibility practices observed.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including React and Gatsby, which enable fast loading times and excellent mobile responsiveness. The use of Google Tag Manager and OneTrust indicates a focus on analytics and privacy compliance. The site employs strong SSL/TLS configurations and security headers, contributing to a secure browsing experience. Technical debt appears minimal with no visible errors or broken elements. Opportunities exist to further enhance security transparency and implement formal vulnerability management processes. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust and scalable online presence.
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. 68/100Medium30 findingsView report
  2. 68/100Medium30 findingsView report
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