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Security report for flatironbooks.com

Flatiron Books · Media · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

Flatiron Books operates as a book publishing imprint with a professional online presence hosted on the Squarespace platform. The website targets readers and book buyers, offering information about their publications and brand. The technical infrastructure includes modern web technologies such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and OneTrust for cookie consent, indicating a moderate level of digital maturity. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enforced, but lacks advanced security headers and HSTS, which are recommended for enhanced protection. Privacy compliance is limited due to the absence of a visible privacy policy and terms of service, though cookie consent mechanisms are in place. The domain WHOIS data is unavailable, which reduces trustworthiness from a domain registration perspective. Overall, the website is functional and professional but would benefit from improved transparency and security enhancements.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 100 · Low
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 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. 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 flatironbooks.com

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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
62
Security headers
35
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
76

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

Flatiron Books is positioned as a medium-sized media company within the publishing sector, likely a subsidiary or imprint of Macmillan Publishers. Their business model focuses on publishing and selling books to a literary audience. The website supports brand consistency and integrates social media channels for audience engagement. The lack of direct contact information and corporate disclosures on the site suggests a focus on brand presentation rather than direct customer service. The presence of OneTrust and Google tracking tools indicates an awareness of regulatory compliance and marketing analytics. Strategic partnerships with Macmillan and use of Squarespace for hosting reflect a balance between professional branding and cost-effective digital infrastructure.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS, which is fundamental for secure communications. However, it lacks several important security headers such as HSTS, Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options, which are critical for mitigating common web vulnerabilities like clickjacking, MIME sniffing, and cross-site scripting. The use of OneTrust for cookie consent is a positive indicator for privacy compliance, but the absence of a privacy policy and terms of service pages is a compliance gap. No evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries was found. Incident response and security policy information are not publicly available, which limits assessment of their security culture and readiness. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could be significantly improved with standard best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable and configure HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to enforce HTTPS and protect against protocol downgrade attacks.
  2. Implement a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy header to mitigate cross-site scripting and data injection attacks.
  3. Add X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options headers to prevent clickjacking and MIME sniffing vulnerabilities.
  4. Publish clear and accessible privacy policy and terms of service pages to improve regulatory compliance and user trust.
  5. Verify and update WHOIS domain registration information to enhance domain legitimacy and trust signals.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Flatiron Books
Description
Flatiron Books is a publishing company focused on books, likely literary and commercial titles, targeting readers and book buyers.
Key services
Book publishing, Book sales, Author promotion
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Squarespace CMS, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, Typekit Fonts, YUI3 JavaScript Library
Platforms
Squarespace
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of OneTrust for cookie consent
  • Google Tag Manager with consent mode configured

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
OneTrust
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
basic
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is built on Squarespace platform with standard integrations.
  2. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage content.
  3. Privacy and terms pages not found or not linked prominently.
  4. Cookie consent implemented via OneTrust with consent mechanism active.
  5. Social media presence on Twitter and Instagram confirmed.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, limiting domain trust assessment.
  7. Security headers are minimal; HTTPS is enforced but HSTS missing.
  8. No signs of malware or phishing detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Squarespace CMS platform, leveraging its built-in hosting and content management capabilities. It uses Typekit fonts and Google Fonts for typography, and integrates Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for visitor tracking and marketing analytics. The presence of OneTrust scripts indicates a cookie consent management system is in place. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of scripts and preconnect hints to optimize resource loading. Mobile optimization is good, with responsive design elements detected. Accessibility features are basic and could be enhanced. SEO optimization is basic, with standard meta tags and Open Graph data present but no advanced schema beyond a simple WebSite JSON-LD. The technical stack is modern but relies heavily on third-party services and the Squarespace platform's default configurations.
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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