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Security report for goodreads.com

Goodreads, Inc. · Media · N/a

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

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

Goodreads, Inc. operates one of the world's largest online communities for book lovers, providing a platform for book discovery, recommendations, reviews, and social interaction. The website targets readers globally and offers services including personalized book suggestions, author programs, and advertising opportunities. The platform is well-established with a strong market position in the literary and media sector. Technically, Goodreads employs modern web technologies such as React and integrates with major platforms like Amazon and Apple for authentication and hosting. The site demonstrates good performance, mobile optimization, and SEO practices, supported by a robust infrastructure likely hosted on Amazon Web Services. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses secure login mechanisms. However, it lacks some advanced security headers and does not publicly disclose a security policy or incident response contacts, which are areas for improvement. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, though cookie consent mechanisms could be enhanced. Overall, Goodreads presents a trustworthy and professional online presence with high content quality and user experience. The absence of WHOIS data transparency slightly impacts trust but does not detract significantly from the platform's legitimacy. Strategic improvements in security transparency and privacy consent would further strengthen its posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of goodreads.com. 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 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 goodreads.com

This scan found 16 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

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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
60
Email security
87
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
79

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

Goodreads holds a dominant position in the online book community market, leveraging a large user base for book discovery and social engagement. Its business model includes advertising revenue and services for authors and publishers, creating multiple revenue streams. The platform's integration with Amazon and Apple enhances user convenience and trust. The company targets avid readers and literary enthusiasts, maintaining growth through community features and curated content. Partnerships with major tech companies and a strong social media presence support its ecosystem. The lack of direct contact information on the homepage suggests a focus on digital self-service and automated support channels.

Security posture

The security posture of Goodreads is solid with mandatory HTTPS and secure authentication options. The presence of CSRF tokens in forms indicates attention to common web vulnerabilities. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options is a gap that could expose the site to certain attacks. No public security policy or incident response contacts were found, which limits transparency and user confidence in handling security incidents. There is no evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries in the provided content. Compliance with GDPR is indicated by privacy policy content, but cookie consent mechanisms are minimal. Overall, the site is secure but could improve in security communication and header implementation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy including incident response contacts.
  2. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection.
  3. Introduce a clear cookie consent mechanism to improve GDPR compliance and user transparency.
  4. Enhance WHOIS transparency or provide domain registration details to improve trustworthiness.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to ensure no vulnerable libraries are used.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Goodreads, Inc.
Description
Find and read more books you’ll love, and keep track of the books you want to read. Be part of the world’s largest community of book lovers on Goodreads.
Key services
Book discovery and recommendations, User book tracking and reviews, Author program, Advertising platform
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, CKEditor, Amazon Web Services (implied by Amazon domains), Apple Sign-In JS API, WebFont Loader
Frameworks
React
Platforms
Web, iOS app, Android app
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure login options via Amazon and Apple
  • CSRF tokens present in forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Amazon CSA
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads
Tracking pixels
Amazon CSA
Marketing tools
Amazon CSA instrumentation
Transparency
basic

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 features.
  2. Strong branding and consistent design across pages.
  3. Multiple social media integrations and official app links.
  4. Secure login options with Amazon and Apple sign-in.
  5. No direct company contact emails or phone numbers found on the homepage.
  6. WHOIS data is missing or protected, limiting domain registration transparency.
  7. Privacy and terms policies are present and comprehensive.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response contacts published.
  9. Advertising and analytics scripts are present but standard for large platforms.
Technical notes

Notes

Goodreads uses a modern React-based frontend with asynchronous script loading and integration of third-party APIs such as Apple Sign-In and Amazon services. The site is hosted on Amazon infrastructure, ensuring scalability and reliability. Performance optimizations include web font loading and deferred script execution. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with semantic HTML and ARIA roles implied by structured data usage. SEO is well addressed with meta tags, Open Graph, and Twitter cards. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Technical risks are low, but continuous monitoring of third-party scripts is advised to mitigate supply chain risks.
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. 79/100 +1Low25 findingsView report
  2. 78/100Low25 findingsView report
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