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Security report for hongkiat.com

Hongkiat.com · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Hongkiat.com is a well-established online platform providing technology, design, and inspiration content primarily targeting web designers, developers, freelancers, and novice users. The site offers a wide range of tutorials, tips, and resources, positioning itself as a valuable knowledge hub in the technology and design space. Its business model relies on content publishing monetized through advertising and affiliate marketing, supported by a professional and consistent brand presence. Technically, the website is built on WordPress CMS with modern SEO practices implemented via Yoast SEO and integrates Google Analytics and Adsense for analytics and monetization. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO, contributing to a positive user experience. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and uses standard security plugins but lacks explicit security headers and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, which could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data reduces trust slightly, but the overall content quality and professionalism mitigate this concern. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, though cookie consent mechanisms are missing. Overall, Hongkiat.com presents a mature digital presence with room for security and privacy enhancements.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
70/ 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. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. 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 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';…

  3. 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

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching hongkiat.com

This scan found 17 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

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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
0
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
70
Average
61

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

Hongkiat.com occupies a strong niche in the technology and design content market, catering to a global audience of web professionals and enthusiasts. Its competitive advantage lies in its extensive, high-quality content and consistent publishing schedule. Revenue streams include advertising via Google Adsense and affiliate marketing partnerships, such as Amazon affiliate links managed through Georiot. The site maintains active social media channels to engage its audience and drive traffic. While the business does not publicly disclose detailed company information or physical addresses, its digital footprint and content quality indicate a medium-sized operation focused on content-driven growth. The partnership with deals.hongkiat.com suggests an ecosystem approach to monetization. Strategic observations include the need to enhance transparency around privacy and security to maintain user trust and comply with evolving regulations.

Security posture

Hongkiat.com demonstrates a moderate security posture with HTTPS enforced site-wide, protecting data in transit. The use of WordPress and popular plugins like Contact Form 7 suggests standard security practices, but the absence of key security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces defense-in-depth. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The site lacks a published vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file, which limits external security collaboration. Incident response contacts are not publicly available, which could delay handling of security issues. Privacy compliance is addressed via a comprehensive privacy policy, but cookie consent mechanisms are missing, potentially impacting GDPR compliance. Recommendations include implementing security headers, publishing security policies, and adding explicit cookie consent to improve overall security maturity.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Add a cookie policy and explicit user consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible security reporting.
  4. Provide clear incident response contact information, including security and abuse email addresses.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Hongkiat.com
Description
At Hongkiat, we cover helpful tips and tutorials for web designers, developers, freelance web workers, and the novice users.
Key services
Technology and design tutorials, Web development resources, Freelance tools and tips, Deals and offers
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO, Google Analytics, Google Adsense, jQuery, Backbone.js, Underscore.js, WebFont Loader
Frameworks
WordPress theme v7
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (implied by Contact Form 7 and other plugins)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Jetpack Stats
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense, Mediago
Tracking pixels
Jetpack Stats, Google Adsense
Marketing tools
Geniuslink
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional technology and design blog with extensive content.
  2. Uses WordPress CMS with Yoast SEO and Google Adsense for monetization.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers publicly listed; contact via form.
  4. Privacy and publishing policies are present and accessible.
  5. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page found.
  7. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which reduces trust score.
  8. No WAF or blocking detected; site fully accessible.
  9. Advertising and tracking scripts are present but standard for content sites.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by WordPress CMS with a custom theme (v7) and uses popular plugins such as Yoast SEO for search engine optimization and Contact Form 7 for user contact forms. It integrates Google Analytics and Google Adsense for analytics and monetization, respectively. The site loads external JavaScript libraries including jQuery, Backbone.js, and Underscore.js, and uses Google Fonts via WebFont Loader. Performance is moderate with some asynchronous loading of scripts and fonts. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and accessibility features such as screen-reader text and ARIA roles. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, but there is room for improvement in security headers and privacy compliance mechanisms. Hosting provider details are not explicitly found in the HTML content.
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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