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Security report for pexels.com

Pexels · Media · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Pexels is a prominent online platform offering free stock photos and videos, targeting content creators, marketers, and designers globally. The website provides a vast library of high-quality, royalty-free media with no attribution required, positioning itself as a leading resource in the free stock media market. The platform's business model revolves around providing free content with potential monetization through premium services or partnerships. Technically, Pexels employs modern web technologies including React and Next.js, supported by analytics and consent management tools such as Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and OneTrust. The site is well-optimized for performance, mobile responsiveness, and SEO, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS, uses multiple security headers, and manages user consent effectively, though it lacks a publicly visible security policy or incident response page. The absence of WHOIS data reduces domain trust slightly but does not detract significantly from the overall legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include publishing explicit security and incident response information and providing a vulnerability disclosure channel to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

7 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 Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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 pexels.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.

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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
75
Security headers
55
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
73

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 pexels.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
334,149
Employees
27
Customers
334,061
Third parties
61
Weak passwords
13%

Latest record dated 2026-06-11 · 74 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 pexels.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –www.pexels.com2026-06-11
  • –www.pexels.com2026-05-22
  • –www.pexels.com2026-05-20
  • –pexels.com2026-05-13
  • –pexels.com2026-01-10

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

Pexels operates in the media and technology sectors, serving a large user base with free stock media content. Its competitive advantage lies in the extensive, high-quality content library and ease of access without attribution requirements. The platform likely generates revenue through premium offerings, advertising, or partnerships. The target audience includes creative professionals and general users seeking free media assets. The company maintains a strong brand presence with consistent design and active social media engagement. Growth indicators include comprehensive privacy and cookie policies and integration of advanced analytics. The partnership ecosystem includes major analytics and consent providers, though no direct business partner domains were identified in the HTML content.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and consent management mechanisms. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of a dedicated security policy or incident response page and lack of a vulnerability disclosure mechanism represent gaps in security transparency and readiness. Compliance with GDPR is indicated through privacy and cookie policies. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly visible, suggesting room for improvement in security communication and user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  3. Enhance contact information with dedicated security and abuse contact channels.
  4. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain GDPR and other compliance standards.
  5. Continue investing in performance optimization and accessibility to maintain high user experience standards.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Pexels
Description
Free stock photos & videos you can use everywhere. Browse millions of high-quality royalty free stock images & copyright free pictures. No attribution required.
Key services
Free stock photos, Free stock videos, Search and download royalty-free media
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Sentry, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, OneTrust
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

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

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar, OneTrust
Marketing tools
Hotjar, OneTrust
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 no blocking or WAF challenge
  2. Professional and well-structured website with comprehensive metadata and structured data
  3. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent management
  4. No direct company contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML; contact via forms and social media
  5. Use of modern JavaScript frameworks and analytics tools
  6. No security policy or incident response page explicitly found
  7. WHOIS data unavailable, limiting domain trust verification
Technical notes

Notes

Pexels utilizes a modern technology stack centered on React and Next.js frameworks, enabling server-side rendering and fast performance. The site integrates third-party analytics and consent management tools, including Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and OneTrust, to monitor user behavior and comply with privacy regulations. The website is well-structured with comprehensive metadata, Open Graph tags, and JSON-LD structured data for SEO enhancement. Mobile optimization and accessibility features are well-implemented. No CMS or hosting provider details were explicitly identified from the HTML content. The technical infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience with fast loading times and clear navigation.
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. 72/100 −2Medium27 findingsView report
  2. 74/100Medium24 findingsView report
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