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Security report for ecosia.org

Ecosia GmbH · Technology · Germany

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

Security score

82/100

Risk levelLow

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

Ecosia GmbH operates a green search engine that dedicates 100% of its profits to climate action, primarily through tree planting projects worldwide. The company positions itself as a transparent and environmentally responsible alternative to mainstream search engines, with a strong community of over 20 million users and a commitment to renewable energy powering its operations. The website reflects this mission with clear messaging, financial transparency, and environmental impact counters. Technically, the website uses modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks (likely Vue.js), CSS, and integrates third-party services such as Google Tag Manager and Didomi for consent management. The site is well-optimized for performance, mobile responsiveness, and accessibility, providing a smooth user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, employs standard security headers, and manages user consent for cookies and tracking in compliance with GDPR. However, explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly visible, representing areas for improvement. Overall, Ecosia presents a trustworthy and professional online presence with strong environmental credentials. The lack of WHOIS data is mitigated by the company's transparency and certifications. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies, providing clear security incident contacts, and establishing a vulnerability disclosure program to enhance trust and security posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of ecosia.org. View the latest report

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

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

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching ecosia.org

This scan found 11 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.

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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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
75
Security headers
70
Email security
100
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
82

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 ecosia.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
456
Employees
1
Customers
395
Third parties
60
Weak passwords
15%

Latest record dated 2025-09-17 · 12 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 ecosia.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –login.ecosia.org2025-09-17

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

Ecosia occupies a unique niche as an eco-friendly search engine with a business model focused on reinvesting profits into environmental projects. Its competitive advantage lies in its transparent financial reporting, community engagement, and B-Corporation certification. Revenue streams derive from search-related advertising, with a commitment to using profits for climate action. The target audience includes environmentally conscious internet users globally. The company maintains partnerships with local organizations in over 35 countries for tree planting projects, reinforcing its global impact and operational reach. Growth indicators include a large user base and significant financial dedication to climate initiatives. The partnership ecosystem includes advertising networks and consent management providers, supporting both business and compliance needs.

Security posture

Ecosia demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and GDPR-compliant consent management. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. However, the absence of a public security policy, incident response information, and vulnerability disclosure program indicates room for maturity improvement. The company should consider publishing these documents and providing dedicated security contact channels to enhance incident readiness and stakeholder trust. Overall, the security culture appears positive but could benefit from increased transparency and formalization of security processes.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Provide clear contact information for security incidents and abuse reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and dependencies to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data protection officer contact details and data retention policies.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ecosia GmbH
Description
Ecosia uses 100% of its profits for the planet and produces enough renewable energy to power all searches twice over.
Key services
Search engine, Tree planting projects, Financial transparency reports
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Google Tag Manager, Didomi Consent Management
Frameworks
Vue.js (inferred from data-v- attributes)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Consent management for cookies
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads (DoubleClick)
Marketing tools
Didomi Consent Management
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 content and interactive search functionality.
  2. Strong emphasis on environmental impact and transparency.
  3. Use of modern web technologies and consent management tools.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on main pages.
  5. B-Corporation certification prominently displayed as trust indicator.
  6. Financial reports are published monthly and linked clearly.
  7. No signs of malicious or suspicious content or domains.
  8. Cookie consent banner and privacy policy comply with GDPR.
  9. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern JavaScript framework, likely Vue.js, with modular CSS and asynchronous script loading for performance optimization. Integration with Google Tag Manager and Didomi indicates a focus on analytics and privacy compliance. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with semantic HTML and ARIA attributes. Performance is fast with preconnect and preload hints for critical resources. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or static site generation approach. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Technical risks are minimal, but continuous monitoring of third-party scripts and consent mechanisms is recommended to maintain compliance and security.
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. 82/100Low21 findingsView report
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