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Security report for elance.com

Upwork Global Inc. · Technology · N/a

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

Upwork Global Inc. operates the world's largest human and AI-powered freelance marketplace, connecting businesses and professionals worldwide with top freelance talent. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of services including talent hiring, AI-driven matching, and project management tools, positioning itself as a leader in the technology sector for remote work solutions. The website reflects a mature digital presence with excellent design, mobile optimization, and clear navigation, supporting a broad global audience. Technically, Upwork employs modern JavaScript frameworks such as Vue.js and integrates advanced analytics and consent management tools, indicating a high level of digital maturity. The site is fast, accessible, and SEO-optimized, leveraging secure HTTPS connections and robust security headers to protect user data and ensure trustworthiness. From a security perspective, Upwork demonstrates strong best practices including HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and secure form handling. However, the absence of explicit security policies, incident response information, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms suggests areas for improvement in transparency and security communication. The WHOIS data is notably missing, which raises some concerns about domain registration transparency but does not detract significantly from the overall trustworthiness given the company's market position and professional web presence. Overall, Upwork presents a low-risk profile with strong business credibility and technical infrastructure. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies, establishing a vulnerability disclosure program, and enhancing domain registration transparency to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

3 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 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 elance.com

This scan found 13 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.

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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
82
Security headers
70
Email security
87
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
83

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 elance.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
24,127
Employees
0
Customers
24,072
Third parties
55
Weak passwords
12%

23 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 elance.com.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Upwork holds a dominant market position as the largest freelance marketplace globally, targeting businesses and professionals seeking flexible talent solutions. Its business model revolves around connecting clients with freelancers through a digital platform enhanced by AI capabilities. Revenue streams likely include service fees, premium subscriptions, and enterprise solutions. The company benefits from a strong partnership ecosystem and a well-established brand, supported by consistent and professional online content. Growth indicators include extensive social media presence and advanced digital marketing practices. The absence of detailed company founding data and parent/subsidiary relationships limits deeper corporate structure insights but does not diminish its recognized industry leadership.

Security posture

Upwork exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and secure data handling practices. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analyzed content. However, the lack of published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure channels indicates gaps in security transparency and readiness communication. Compliance with GDPR is suggested by the presence of detailed privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. The missing WHOIS data reduces domain registration transparency, which is a minor risk factor. Overall, the security maturity is high but could be enhanced by formalizing and publishing security governance documents and incident response procedures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  3. Provide contact details for a Data Protection Officer or security team to enhance compliance and communication.
  4. Regularly review and audit third-party scripts and analytics tools to mitigate supply chain risks.
  5. Improve domain registration transparency by ensuring WHOIS data is complete and publicly accessible where possible.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Upwork Global Inc.
Description
Upwork is the world’s largest human and AI-powered freelance marketplace to hire top talent—trusted by businesses and professionals worldwide.
Key services
Freelance talent hiring, AI-powered talent matching, Project management tools
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Vue.js, Vuex, Vue-i18n, Google Tag Manager, Cookielaw.org Consent Management
Frameworks
Vue.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with proper input fields

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Visual Website Optimizer
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Visual Website Optimizer
Marketing tools
Visual Website Optimizer
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. Professional and modern design with strong branding consistency
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms
  4. Use of modern JavaScript frameworks and analytics tools
  5. No exposed sensitive data or obvious security vulnerabilities detected
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, limiting domain registration transparency
  7. Contact information limited to phone numbers in structured data, no emails found in HTML
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response information published
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack centered around Vue.js and related libraries, ensuring a responsive and dynamic user experience. Integration with Google Tag Manager and Cookielaw.org indicates advanced marketing and compliance tooling. Performance is optimized with preloading of fonts and scripts, and mobile optimization is excellent. Accessibility features are present but could be further enhanced. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting details are not explicitly available but the use of CDN services like Cloudinary suggests a distributed content delivery approach. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a fast, secure, and user-friendly platform with opportunities for further modernization in accessibility and security transparency.
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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