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Security report for exchangeratesapi.io

APILayer · Technology · United States

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

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

ExchangeRatesAPI.io is a technology-driven service providing real-time and historical currency exchange rate data via a REST API. Established in 2018 and operated under the APILayer brand, it serves over 100,000 developers worldwide, offering tiered subscription plans from free to enterprise levels. The platform is well-positioned in the financial data API market, emphasizing reliability, scalability, and ease of integration for business users. The website demonstrates professional branding, comprehensive documentation, and a clear value proposition targeting developers and businesses requiring accurate forex data. Technically, the website employs modern web standards including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery, with performance optimizations and mobile responsiveness. Hosting and DNS are managed via reputable providers including GoDaddy and Cloudflare. Analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager, Crazy Egg, and FirstPromoter are integrated, supporting user engagement and affiliate programs. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, security headers could be improved and a dedicated security policy or incident response contact is absent. Privacy compliance is strong, with clear privacy and cookie policies hosted on the parent company domain, indicating GDPR awareness and consent mechanisms. Overall, ExchangeRatesAPI.io presents a trustworthy, professional, and technically sound service with minor areas for security enhancement. It is suitable for businesses seeking reliable currency data APIs with transparent pricing and support options.

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

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"

    • 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 exchangeratesapi.io

This scan found 23 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
77
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
68

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

ExchangeRatesAPI.io operates in the technology and finance sectors, providing currency exchange data APIs. Its business model is subscription-based API-as-a-Service with free and paid tiers, targeting developers and enterprises. The company leverages its parent brand APILayer and related products to create a comprehensive API ecosystem. Market positioning is strong with endorsements from major clients and a large developer base. Revenue streams include monthly and annual subscriptions with overage charges. The affiliate program and marketing integrations indicate active growth strategies. The company maintains a medium size with offices in Austria and the US, reflecting international reach and operational maturity.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses reputable DNS and hosting providers, contributing to a secure baseline. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Security best practices such as SSL encryption and input validation on forms are observed. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No public security policy or incident response contacts were found, limiting transparency for vulnerability reporting. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, but a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure program is missing. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by formalizing security policies and improving HTTP headers.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices, compliance, and incident response procedures to increase transparency and trust.
  3. Establish and publicize an incident response contact or abuse email address to facilitate vulnerability reporting and timely response.
  4. Add a security.txt file at the root domain to standardize vulnerability disclosure and improve communication with security researchers.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to ensure no vulnerable libraries are included and maintain secure form handling practices.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
APILayer
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
APILayer
Description
Provides a free and paid REST API for real-time and historical currency exchange rate data supporting 200+ currencies, updated frequently for business use.
Key services
Real-time exchange rates, Historical currency data, Currency conversion API
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Cloudflare DNS
Platforms
Web, REST API
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Client-side input validation on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Crazy Egg
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Crazy Egg, Reddit Ads Pixel, Cookie Script
Marketing tools
FirstPromoter
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website offers a well-structured API service for currency exchange data.
  2. Clear tiered pricing plans with detailed feature lists.
  3. Strong branding and trust signals from known clients.
  4. Comprehensive documentation and support links.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics.
  6. Privacy and legal policies hosted on a parent company domain.
  7. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with modern web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery, ensuring compatibility and responsiveness. It uses Google Fonts and Font Awesome for typography and icons, enhancing visual appeal. Hosting is managed via GoDaddy registrar with Cloudflare DNS, providing reliable infrastructure. Performance is optimized with preloading of key assets and asynchronous loading of scripts. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured content. The use of Google Tag Manager and analytics tools supports marketing and user behavior analysis. Technical risks are minimal, with opportunities to improve security headers and formalize security documentation.
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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