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Security report for softwareadvice.com

Software Advice · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Software Advice is a well-established technology company specializing in providing personalized software recommendations, reviews, and comparisons to businesses. As a subsidiary of Gartner, Inc., it holds a strong market position with over 1 million businesses helped and more than 2.5 million verified software reviews. The platform targets businesses seeking tailored software solutions across multiple industries. Technically, the website is built on modern frameworks such as Next.js and React, hosted on Vercel, and employs advanced analytics and tracking tools including Google Analytics and FullStory. The site demonstrates excellent performance, mobile optimization, and SEO practices. Security-wise, the website enforces HTTPS, uses multiple security headers, and shows no signs of exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities. However, explicit security policies and incident response information are not publicly available, which could be improved. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with privacy regulations, though WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security and incident response policies, adding vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, and enhancing transparency around data protection roles.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 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

5 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 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
    • 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 softwareadvice.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

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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
57
Security headers
35
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
75

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

Software Advice operates as a technology advisory platform, leveraging its parent company Gartner's reputation to maintain a leadership position in the software recommendation market. Its business model focuses on providing free, personalized software advice through one-on-one consultations and extensive user reviews. The company serves a broad range of industries and maintains regional partner sites for multiple countries, indicating a global reach. The platform's competitive advantage lies in its large database of verified reviews and trusted advisors. Marketing and lead acquisition are supported by integrated tracking and analytics tools. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers in the public domain suggests a controlled communication channel, likely via web forms and social media. Growth indicators include extensive software categories and a large user base. Partnerships with review platforms like Capterra and Trustpilot enhance credibility.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and a comprehensive set of security headers implemented, including HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of a published security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency and may impact user trust in security matters. There is no visible security.txt file or dedicated security contact channels. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms, indicating GDPR awareness. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly documented, suggesting an area for improvement. Overall, the security posture is strong technically but could benefit from enhanced policy transparency and user communication.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a detailed security policy and incident response plan on the website to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  3. Enhance visibility of data protection officer contact information to comply with GDPR and improve privacy transparency.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks and ensure compliance.
  5. Maintain consistent WHOIS information or provide justification for privacy protection to strengthen domain legitimacy perception.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Software Advice
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Software Advice
Description
We help companies find the right software—for free and in as little as 15 minutes.
Key services
Personalized software recommendations, Software reviews and comparisons, One-on-one advisor support
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Vercel Analytics, Google Tag Manager, FullStory, Imgix
Frameworks
Next.js
Platforms
Vercel
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 forms with input sanitization implied

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, FullStory, Vercel Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
FullStory
Marketing tools
Lead Acquisition Service
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 rich content and interactive features.
  2. Strong branding and consistent professional design.
  3. Comprehensive software categories and user reviews.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks.
  5. Good SEO and accessibility practices.
  6. No direct company contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content provided.
  7. Social media links to LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (Twitter) are present.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response information published.
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected.
  10. Privacy and cookie policies are present with consent mechanisms.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including React and Next.js, hosted on Vercel, which supports fast and scalable delivery. The use of Imgix for image optimization and multiple analytics tools indicates a focus on performance and user behavior insights. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. SEO is well implemented with proper meta tags, canonical links, and structured data in JSON-LD format. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or headless architecture. The technical infrastructure is robust, supporting a high-quality user experience and efficient content delivery. Opportunities exist to further enhance security transparency and data protection disclosures.
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. 75/100Medium24 findingsView report
  2. 75/100 +2Medium23 findingsView report
  3. 73/100Medium23 findingsView report
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