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Security report for kobo.com

Rakuten Kobo · E-commerce · Finland

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

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Rakuten Kobo operates a comprehensive e-commerce platform specializing in digital reading products including eBooks, audiobooks, eReaders, and reading applications. The website targets a global audience with localized versions, including a Finnish store. As a subsidiary of Rakuten, Kobo holds a strong market position in the digital reading industry, offering over 6 million titles and a variety of devices and apps. The platform is designed for general consumers interested in digital reading content and devices. Technically, the website leverages modern web technologies such as React and Next.js, ensuring fast performance, mobile optimization, and good accessibility. Integration with Algolia for search and Builder.io for content management indicates a mature digital infrastructure. SEO is well implemented with structured data and comprehensive metadata. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and includes multiple security headers, demonstrating good baseline security hygiene. Privacy and cookie policies are prominently presented with consent mechanisms, reflecting compliance with GDPR. However, explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly available, representing areas for improvement. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and secure with minor gaps in published security governance information. The lack of WHOIS transparency is typical for large brands but slightly reduces trust. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies and incident response contacts to enhance transparency and trust.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of kobo.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 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

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 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

  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 kobo.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
57
Security headers
55
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
77

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention kobo.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
51,109
Employees
2
Customers
51,060
Third parties
47
Weak passwords
11%

Latest record dated 2025-07-20 · 37 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for kobo.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –adfs.kobo.com2025-07-20
  • –authorize.kobo.com2025-04-14

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Rakuten Kobo is positioned as a leading global digital reading platform, leveraging its parent company Rakuten's resources. Its business model centers on direct sales of digital content and devices, supported by a broad catalog and multiple localized storefronts. Revenue streams include eBook and audiobook sales, device sales, and subscription services like Kobo Plus. The target customer segments are general consumers and avid readers worldwide. The company benefits from strong brand recognition and partnerships with content providers. Growth indicators include continuous product launches and expansion into new markets. The partnership ecosystem includes authorization and e-commerce domains supporting user management and sales. Operationally, Kobo demonstrates a mature digital presence with a focus on user experience and compliance.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement and comprehensive security headers. Privacy compliance is evident through detailed policies and cookie consent mechanisms. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response contact information, and vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency and may impact incident handling readiness. Compliance with GDPR is indicated but could be strengthened with explicit DPO contact details. Overall, the security maturity is good but can be improved by formalizing and publishing governance documents and response procedures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information, such as a security@ or abuse@ email address.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  4. Include data protection officer contact details to enhance GDPR transparency.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain compliance and user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Rakuten Kobo
Description
Open up to over 6 million eBooks and audiobooks on award-winning eReaders and the free Rakuten Kobo App. Find Daily Deals, read previews & reviews and get book recommendations.
Key services
eBook sales, Audiobook sales, eReader devices, Reading applications
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Algolia Search, CDN (likely), Google Site Verification
Frameworks
React, Next.js
Platforms
Web, Android, iOS, Desktop (Windows, Mac)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
builder.io
Marketing tools
Algolia, Builder.io
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 privacy and cookie consent mechanisms are implemented.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on main pages.
  4. No explicit security policy or incident response contacts published.
  5. Modern tech stack with React and Next.js used.
  6. Good SEO and accessibility practices observed.
  7. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  8. WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to registry restrictions or privacy.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React and Next.js framework, ensuring server-side rendering and fast load times. Integration with Algolia enhances search capabilities, while Builder.io supports content management and A/B testing. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. SEO is enhanced through structured JSON-LD data and comprehensive meta tags. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or headless CMS approach. Hosting details are not explicit but likely use CDN and cloud infrastructure for performance. The technical stack is robust, supporting scalability and user engagement. Opportunities exist to improve technical documentation and security governance visibility.
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. 76/100Low26 findingsView report
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