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Security report for method.ac

Duopixel · Education · Canada

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Method of Action is a small Canadian educational platform focused on providing free design learning tools, games, and a simple vector editor. Founded in 2011 and operated by Duopixel and Mark MacKay, it targets design learners and creative individuals with a niche offering of interactive educational content. The website is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and professionally presented, with clear contact information and open source transparency via GitHub. Technically, it uses standard web technologies hosted on DigitalOcean, but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC. Security posture is good with HTTPS and domain transfer protection but could be improved with additional security policies and cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the site is safe, trustworthy, and compliant with basic privacy standards, though GDPR compliance is not explicitly demonstrated.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

6 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 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 method.ac

This scan found 27 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.

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  • Security headers
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  • 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
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
52

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

The business operates as a free educational resource with optional donations, positioning itself in a niche market of design education. It leverages open source tools and personal branding of its creator, Mark MacKay, who is also professionally affiliated with Invopop. The platform's competitive advantage lies in its unique educational games and tools that engage users interactively. Revenue streams appear limited to donations. The partnership with Invopop adds credibility. The site shows consistent branding and a clear target audience of learners and educators in design.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protection. However, it lacks DNSSEC, security headers, and formal security or incident response policies. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present. The absence of cookie consent and tracking scripts reduces privacy risks but also indicates limited privacy compliance measures. The site is free from visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are minimal, reflecting a small-scale operation with basic security awareness.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or policy to comply with privacy regulations and improve transparency.
  4. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to enhance trust and preparedness.
  5. Consider integrating basic analytics with privacy compliance to better understand user engagement and improve services.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Duopixel
Description
Method of Action creates tools, toys and games to help you learn design, for free. It is the creative endeavor of Mark MacKay, a Product Designer at Invopop.
Key services
Educational games for design practice, Online vector editor (Method Draw), Creative work logs and writing
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges
  2. Content is focused on free educational design tools and games
  3. Contact information is clearly provided with company domain email
  4. No cookie consent or tracking scripts detected
  5. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found
  6. No phone numbers or physical addresses provided
  7. Open source project linked on GitHub
  8. Hosting on DigitalOcean with DigitalOcean nameservers
  9. No DNSSEC enabled on domain
  10. No explicit security headers detected in HTML content
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a clean and modern HTML5 and CSS3 stack with JavaScript for interactivity, including dark mode toggling. Hosting is provided by DigitalOcean with their nameservers. The site is mobile responsive and SEO optimized with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. No CMS or frameworks are detected, indicating a custom or static site approach. Performance is moderate with no heavy external dependencies or analytics scripts. Accessibility is basic but functional. Technical risks include lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers, which could be addressed to reduce attack surface and improve resilience.
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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