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Security report for esrb.org

Entertainment Software Rating Board · Media · United States

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) operates as a leading non-profit organization providing age and content ratings for video games and apps, primarily targeting parents and consumers to facilitate informed purchasing decisions. The organization also enforces advertising guidelines and runs a privacy certification program, positioning itself as a trusted authority in the media and entertainment sector. The website reflects a mature, well-established entity with consistent branding and comprehensive content tailored to its audience. Technically, the ESRB website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform, utilizing popular frameworks and libraries such as Bootstrap 4 and jQuery, enhanced by performance optimization tools like WP Rocket. The site demonstrates excellent mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, ensuring a high-quality user experience across devices. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, employs security headers, and monitors Content Security Policy violations, indicating a strong security posture. However, explicit security policies and incident response information are not publicly available, suggesting areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Overall, the ESRB website presents a low-risk profile with strong trust indicators and compliance with privacy regulations, including GDPR. The absence of WHOIS data due to privacy protection is justified given the organization's nature. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies, adding vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, and enhancing security contact visibility to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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 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"

  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

  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
    • 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 esrb.org

This scan found 21 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

€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
42
Security headers
30
Email security
100
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
70

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

ESRB holds a dominant market position as the primary video game rating authority in the U.S., supported by its parent entity, the Entertainment Software Association. Its business model centers on self-regulation and certification services, generating trust among consumers, retailers, and industry stakeholders. The organization targets parents and consumers seeking guidance on video game content, leveraging partnerships such as the International Age Rating Coalition to extend its global reach. The website's content and tools, including parental controls and mobile apps, reflect a comprehensive service offering designed to maintain market leadership and consumer confidence.

Security posture

The ESRB website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of security headers, and monitoring of CSP violations. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were found. However, the lack of publicly available security policies, incident response plans, and vulnerability disclosure channels indicates potential gaps in transparency and readiness. The site complies with privacy regulations and employs consent mechanisms for cookies, but could benefit from enhanced security communication and formalized incident response documentation to align with best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a detailed security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Add explicit security contact information for incident reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention and privacy compliance measures.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Entertainment Software Rating Board
Description
The ESRB provides age and content ratings for video games and apps to help parents and consumers make informed choices. It also enforces advertising guidelines and offers privacy certification.
Key services
Game and app rating, Advertising guidelines enforcement, Privacy certification program, Parental tools and guides
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Bootstrap 4, Yoast SEO, WP Rocket, Honeycomb Careers plugin, Meilisearch
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of CSP monitoring
  • Secure forms with nonce tokens

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
OptinMonster
Marketing tools
OptinMonster
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 no blocking detected
  2. Strong focus on parental guidance and video game rating information
  3. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices
  4. Clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms
  5. No direct company emails or phone numbers publicly listed, contact via form
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, likely due to privacy protection or registry restrictions
  7. Multiple social media channels linked with official branding
  8. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure found
  9. No adult or questionable content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website leverages a robust WordPress CMS with modern front-end frameworks such as Bootstrap and jQuery, supported by performance optimization plugins like WP Rocket. It integrates advanced search capabilities via Meilisearch and employs SEO best practices through Yoast SEO. The site demonstrates fast loading times, excellent mobile responsiveness, and good accessibility features. Technical debt appears minimal, though continuous monitoring of third-party dependencies is advised to maintain security and performance standards.
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. 70/100Medium29 findingsView report
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