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Security report for smartocto.com

Smartocto BV · Media · Netherlands

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Smartocto BV operates a sophisticated content analytics platform tailored for newsrooms and content creators, leveraging AI and real-time data to enhance editorial decision-making and content performance. The company is well-positioned in the media technology sector with a solid client base including major media organizations. Their platform offers features such as real-time analytics, AI-powered notifications, A/B testing, customizable dashboards, and editorial strategy support through their academy. Technically, the website employs modern analytics and marketing tools, is hosted on AWS infrastructure, and demonstrates good performance and mobile optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and secure cookie consent mechanisms, though improvements could be made by enabling DNSSEC and publishing security policies. Privacy compliance is robust with clear GDPR-aligned policies and cookie consent. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and provides comprehensive business and contact information, supporting a high legitimacy score.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 100 · Low
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 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. 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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching smartocto.com

This scan found 18 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

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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
72
Security headers
40
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
95
Average
70

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

Smartocto's market positioning as a specialized editorial analytics provider gives it a competitive advantage in the media sector. Their SaaS business model, augmented with AI capabilities and educational services, supports diversified revenue streams. The presence of testimonials and partnerships with leading media companies indicates strong market acceptance and trust. The company targets newsrooms and content creators globally, with offices in the Netherlands, Serbia, and the US, suggesting international reach and growth potential. Their focus on actionable insights and user needs modeling aligns with current industry trends towards data-driven journalism and content personalization.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive data. The use of cookie consent mechanisms and privacy policies indicates compliance with data protection regulations. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security suggests room for enhancement. No incident response or security policy pages were found, which could improve transparency and readiness. No vulnerabilities or suspicious domains were detected. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from additional hardening and published policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish a formal security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  3. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve protection against common web attacks.
  4. Consider publishing a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to ensure no vulnerable libraries are included.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Smartocto BV
VAT number
NL855609059B01
Registration number
64307700
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Smartocto BV
Description
Smartocto is a smart content analytics system designed for newsrooms, storytellers, and content creators to make news stories more relevant, impactful, and profitable through actionable insights, real-time dashboards, story value insights, predictive analysis, and AI-powered tips.
Key services
Real-time content analytics, AI-powered smart notifications, A/B testing and page optimization, Customizable dashboards, User needs modeling and research, Editorial strategy support via Smartocto Academy
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), LinkedIn Insight Tag, AWS DNS hosting, Tentacles analytics, HubSpot forms
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies consent mechanism
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Visual Website Optimizer, LinkedIn Insight Tag
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads (AW-624625098)
Tracking pixels
LinkedIn Insight Tag, Visual Website Optimizer
Marketing tools
HubSpot forms
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed with clear branding and consistent messaging.
  2. Strong focus on editorial analytics and AI-powered content optimization.
  3. Multiple client testimonials and logos from reputable media companies enhance trust.
  4. Comprehensive privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies are present.
  5. Use of modern analytics and marketing tools indicates digital maturity.
  6. No security or content blocking detected; site fully accessible.
  7. No suspicious or malicious content found.
  8. Contact information is clearly provided with multiple channels.
  9. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented with granular options.
  10. No explicit security policy or incident response information publicly available.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern JavaScript-based front end with integration of multiple analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Visual Website Optimizer, and LinkedIn Insight Tag. Hosting is managed via AWS DNS services, indicating reliable infrastructure. The site is mobile optimized and accessible with good SEO practices including meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of scripts to improve speed. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. The technical setup supports a professional and scalable online presence with opportunities to improve security headers and DNS security.
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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