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Security report for shields.io

Registrant of shields.io · Technology · United Kingdom

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

Security score

64/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Shields.io is an established open source project founded in 2013, providing concise and consistent badges for software projects. It serves a developer-centric audience by offering dynamic and static badges, an NPM library for badge rendering, and options for self-hosting via Docker. The project is community-driven with active presence on GitHub, Open Collective, and Discord, reflecting a collaborative and transparent business model supported by donations. Technically, the website is built using modern frameworks such as Docusaurus and React, hosted behind Cloudflare for DNS and CDN services. The site demonstrates good performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility. The technology stack is modern and well-maintained, with no detected technical debt or performance issues. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses domain status protections like clientTransferProhibited. However, it lacks DNSSEC, security headers, and published security or incident response policies. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is basic, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism or GDPR indicators. Overall, Shields.io presents a low-risk profile with high legitimacy and trustworthiness. Strategic improvements in security headers, privacy compliance, and contact transparency would enhance its security posture and user trust.

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 shields.io

This scan found 24 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
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
64

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

Shields.io occupies a niche in the developer tools market by providing badges that visually represent project metrics and statuses. Its open source nature and community engagement via GitHub and Discord foster trust and collaboration. The business model relies on donations, reflecting a non-commercial but sustainable approach. The project targets developers and open source maintainers globally, with a strong UK-based registration. Its competitive advantage lies in the breadth of supported services and ease of integration via the NPM library and Docker hosting. The partnership ecosystem includes GitHub and Open Collective, supporting transparency and funding. Growth indicators include active community channels and service status monitoring. The absence of direct commercial offerings suggests a focus on community value rather than revenue generation.

Security posture

The security maturity of Shields.io is moderate to good. HTTPS is enforced, and domain registration protections are in place. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents areas for improvement. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts are published, which could hinder rapid response to security incidents. Privacy compliance is minimal, lacking cookie consent mechanisms and GDPR compliance indicators. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found, indicating sound operational security. The project would benefit from formalizing security policies, publishing incident response procedures, and enhancing privacy practices to align with best practices and regulatory requirements.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Develop and publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Add a cookie policy and consent mechanism if cookies or tracking technologies are used to enhance privacy compliance.
  5. Provide clear contact information for business and security inquiries to improve trust and communication.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Registrant of shields.io
Description
Provides concise, consistent, and legible badges for projects, including dynamic and static badges, an NPM library for badge rendering, and options to self-host via Docker.
Key services
Dynamic badges for hundreds of services, Static badge creation, Badge-Maker NPM library, Self-hosting via Docker image
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, React, Docusaurus, NPM, Docker
Frameworks
Docusaurus v3.9.1
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
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
excellent
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is focused on providing badges for software projects with clear navigation and professional design.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly provided on the main site.
  4. Privacy policy is present but basic; no cookie policy or consent mechanism detected.
  5. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  6. Strong presence on GitHub and community platforms indicating active open source engagement.
  7. No advertising or tracking detected, indicating privacy-conscious approach.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack featuring React and Docusaurus, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. Hosting is managed via Cloudflare, providing CDN and DNS services that contribute to fast load times and reliability. The use of an NPM library and Docker images indicates a mature approach to software distribution and deployment. Performance is fast with good mobile optimization and SEO practices. No technical debt or deprecated technologies were detected. Opportunities exist to enhance security configurations and privacy compliance without impacting performance or user experience.
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. 64/100Medium32 findingsView report
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