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Security report for pixabay.com

Pixabay · Media · N/a

Low risk. 4 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

Pixabay is a well-established online platform founded in 2010 that provides a vast library of over 5.7 million royalty-free images, videos, music, and other media content. It serves a broad audience including content creators, marketers, and designers by offering high-quality stock media free of charge without attribution requirements. The platform integrates with partners such as Canva to enhance user experience through content editing capabilities. Technically, Pixabay employs modern web technologies including React, Snowplow Analytics, and OneTrust for cookie compliance, hosted and protected via Cloudflare infrastructure. The website is fast, mobile-optimized, and SEO-friendly, reflecting a mature digital presence. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS, uses clientTransferProhibited domain status, and implements cookie consent mechanisms, though it lacks DNSSEC and explicit security policies or incident response contacts. Overall, Pixabay demonstrates a strong security posture with minor areas for improvement. The site is safe for general audiences with no adult content detected. Business credibility is high, supported by consistent domain registration and transparent policies.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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 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 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 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 pixabay.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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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Full report

€39.90one-time

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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
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Pixabay holds a leading position in the free stock media market, leveraging a freemium business model that attracts a large community of contributors and users. Its extensive content offerings across multiple media types and integration with editing tools like Canva provide competitive advantages. The platform targets a global audience of creatives and professionals seeking free, high-quality media assets. Revenue streams likely include partnerships, API access, and possibly premium services. The company maintains active social media channels to engage its community and enhance brand visibility. Strategic observations include the opportunity to strengthen security transparency and incident response readiness to further build trust.

Security posture

Pixabay exhibits a solid security posture with mandatory HTTPS, domain transfer protection, and use of Cloudflare services for DNS and CDN. The presence of cookie consent and privacy policies indicates compliance with GDPR and related regulations. However, the absence of DNSSEC and a published security policy or incident response contacts are gaps that could be addressed. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. The use of modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools is balanced with privacy compliance mechanisms. Overall, the security maturity is good but can be enhanced by formalizing vulnerability disclosure and incident response processes.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and frameworks.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ emails.
  4. Consider implementing and publishing a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file.
  5. Maintain and regularly audit third-party scripts and analytics tools for vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Pixabay
Description
Pixabay offers a large collection of royalty-free images, videos, music, illustrations, vectors, 3D models, GIFs, and sound effects for free download and use without attribution.
Key services
Free royalty-free images, Videos, Music, Illustrations, Vectors, 3D Models, GIFs, Sound Effects, API access
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React (implied by chunked JS and SPA structure), Snowplow Analytics, OneTrust (cookie consent), Facebook SDK, Google Identity Services, Cloudflare DNS and likely CDN
Frameworks
React
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Use of Cloudflare for DNS and protection
  • Cookie consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Snowplow Analytics, Google Identity Services
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook SDK, Snowplow Analytics, Google Identity Services
Marketing tools
OneTrust (cookie consent and compliance)
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. Comprehensive privacy, cookie, and terms policies present.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on main pages.
  4. Strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), Pinterest.
  5. Use of modern JavaScript frameworks and analytics tools.
  6. Integration with Canva for content editing partnership.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response contacts published.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  9. DNSSEC not enabled, which is a minor security gap.
  10. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with a modern React-based frontend, leveraging chunked JavaScript for performance optimization. It uses Snowplow Analytics for user behavior tracking and OneTrust for cookie consent management, ensuring privacy compliance. Hosting and DNS are managed via Cloudflare, providing CDN and security benefits. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags, structured data (JSON-LD), and Open Graph tags. No CMS was detected, indicating a custom or proprietary platform. Performance is fast with preloading of critical assets. Technical risks are minimal but include the lack of DNSSEC and absence of explicit security headers in the HTML source. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust and well-maintained.
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. 79/100Low25 findingsView report
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