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Security report for short.io

SHORTCM inc · Technology · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

Short.io is a well-established US-based technology company founded in 2009, specializing in white-label URL shortening services. The company offers branded short URLs, analytics, and API integrations, serving over 1.2 million customers with 100 million redirects daily. Their market position is strong, supported by recognizable brand clients and a professional online presence. Technically, the website leverages modern JavaScript frameworks, analytics tools like Google Tag Manager and PostHog, and customer engagement via Intercom and Trustpilot widgets. Hosting is managed via AWS DNS services, ensuring reliable infrastructure. Security posture is generally good with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections, though DNSSEC is not enabled and security headers are absent. Privacy compliance is limited, with no visible privacy or cookie policies, which is a notable gap. Overall, the website is professional, fast, and mobile-optimized, with moderate user tracking and basic advertising transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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

3 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 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 short.io

This scan found 13 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
100
Security headers
70
Email security
78
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
83

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 short.io, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
3,227
Employees
0
Customers
3,227
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
9%

6 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 short.io.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Short.io operates a SaaS business model targeting businesses and marketers needing branded URL shortening and link management. Their competitive advantage lies in white-label capabilities, extensive integrations, and detailed analytics. Revenue streams likely include subscription plans and enterprise services. The company demonstrates growth with a large customer base and trusted brand partnerships. The ecosystem includes a blog and help center as partner sites, enhancing customer support and engagement. Strategic observations suggest a focus on reliability and brand recognition, with potential to improve compliance and security transparency to strengthen trust further.

Security posture

The security maturity level is moderate to good. HTTPS is enforced, and domain registration includes clientTransferProhibited status, reducing hijacking risks. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers like CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options weakens defense-in-depth. No incident response or security policy information is published, limiting transparency. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Privacy compliance gaps exist due to missing privacy and cookie policies. The company should enhance security headers, enable DNSSEC, and publish security and incident response policies to improve posture and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with GDPR compliance details.
  3. Implement and configure security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Provide clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  5. Increase advertising transparency by disclosing tracking and data retention practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
SHORTCM inc
Description
Short.io is a white-label link shortener that provides rich link management and detailed statistics. Short.io serves to a lot of customers for online and offline marketing, brand promotion and information sharing.
Key services
URL shortening, Branded short URLs, Analytics, API, Integrations with Chrome, Slack, Zapier, Segment
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, PostHog analytics, Intercom widget, Trustpilot widget, AWS DNS hosting
Frameworks
Astro (static site generator)
Platforms
AWS
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), PostHog
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
PostHog
Marketing tools
Intercom, Trustpilot
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and professional design
  2. No privacy or cookie policy pages detected on main page or linked menus
  3. No explicit contact phone numbers or physical addresses found in HTML content
  4. Strong brand presence with major clients logos displayed
  5. Use of modern analytics and customer engagement tools
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found
  7. No visible security headers in HTML source
  8. Domain DNSSEC not enabled, which is a minor security gap
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack including Astro for static site generation, JavaScript frameworks, and integrates analytics and customer engagement tools like Google Tag Manager, PostHog, Intercom, and Trustpilot. Hosting is via AWS DNS services, indicating robust infrastructure. The site is fast, mobile-optimized, and accessible with good SEO practices. No CMS detected, suggesting a custom or static site approach. Technical risks include lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers, which could be addressed to reduce attack surface. Overall, the technical implementation supports a reliable and professional 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. 85/100Low20 findingsView report
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