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Security report for duckduckgo.com

DuckDuckGo · Technology · United States

Low risk. No critical or high findings.

Security score

95/100

Risk levelLow

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

DuckDuckGo is a well-established privacy-focused internet company founded in 2008, offering a search engine and privacy tools that empower users to control their personal information online without tradeoffs. The company holds a strong market position as a leading privacy-centric search engine with a large user base and consistent branding. Technically, the website is built on a modern React framework, optimized for performance, mobile responsiveness, and accessibility, with comprehensive metadata and SEO best practices implemented. Security posture is robust, featuring HTTPS, multiple security headers, and no detected vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is strong, with clear privacy and cookie policies and GDPR adherence. Overall, the website demonstrates high professionalism, trustworthiness, and user-centric design.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

NIS2 outside view
85/ 100 · Low
GDPR outside view
100/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
9of 9

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

The NIS2 figure counts only evidence anyone can see from the internet. 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

No critical or high findings. These medium findings are worth fixing next.

  1. Website hygiene

    Outdated scripts and CMS versions are how most small-business sites get compromised; a security.txt file tells researchers where to report what they find.

    • Medium

      HTTP does not redirect to HTTPS

      http://duckduckgo.com/ answers over unencrypted HTTP (status 200) instead of redirecting to HTTPS, so visitors who type the address or follow old links are not protected.

      What to do: Configure a permanent (301) redirect from every http:// URL to the same https:// URL, then enable HSTS.

Keep watching duckduckgo.com

This scan found 9 issues across 5 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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  • 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
97
Security headers
89
Email security
95
DNS health
97
Network security
100
Website hygiene
85
GDPR outside view
100
Average
95

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.
  • Accessibility: Accessibility is a separate readout from security, so it is reported but not scored. 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 duckduckgo.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
2,314
Employees
1
Customers
2,241
Third parties
72
Weak passwords
38%

Latest record dated 2025-12-04 · 16 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 duckduckgo.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –dub.duckduckgo.com2025-12-04

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

DuckDuckGo operates in the technology sector, focusing on privacy and internet search services. Its business model centers on providing privacy-first search and browsing experiences, monetized through non-tracking advertising. The company targets privacy-conscious internet users globally. It maintains a consistent brand and has a strong social media presence, particularly on Twitter. The domain age and WHOIS data align with the company's history, reinforcing legitimacy. No suspicious domains or partners were identified. The company does not publicly disclose security certifications or incident response details on the homepage, which could be areas for improvement.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities or sensitive data leaks. However, explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not prominently available, which could enhance transparency and trust. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files were found. The minimal use of tracking pixels and internal analytics reflects a privacy-respecting approach. Overall, the security maturity is high, but documentation and communication of security practices could be improved.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page detailing security frameworks and practices.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ emails.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance transparency by listing any security certifications or compliance attestations.
  5. Maintain and communicate data retention policies and privacy compliance measures clearly.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Duck Duck Go, Inc.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
DuckDuckGo
Description
The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.
Key services
Privacy-focused search engine, Privacy browser, Tracker blocking, Private browsing tools
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, Web Fonts
Frameworks
React
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
DuckDuckGo internal analytics
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
excellent

Advertising

Tracking pixels
improving.duckduckgo.com tracking pixel
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 no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Strong emphasis on privacy and user control.
  3. Comprehensive metadata and Open Graph tags present.
  4. No forms collecting sensitive personal data detected on homepage.
  5. Social media presence includes Twitter @duckduckgo.
  6. No exposed emails or phone numbers on homepage; contact via form.
  7. Modern React-based frontend with good performance and accessibility.
  8. Security headers and HTTPS are properly implemented.
  9. No suspicious or malicious domains linked.
  10. No adult or questionable content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern React-based frontend with optimized CSS and web fonts, ensuring fast loading and excellent mobile optimization. The presence of comprehensive meta tags and Open Graph data supports good SEO. Accessibility features are implemented to a good standard. Hosting details are not explicitly disclosed but appear to be cloud-based. No CMS was detected, indicating a custom or proprietary platform. The technical infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience with minimal technical debt visible. Opportunities exist to improve documentation of backend security and compliance frameworks.
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. 86/100Low21 findingsView report
  2. 86/100 +1Low21 findingsView report
  3. 85/100Low19 findingsView report
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