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Security report for sogou.com

MarkMonitor Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. · Technology · China

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

62/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Sogou.com is a major Chinese search engine established in 2001, offering a wide range of search services including web, WeChat, Zhihu, video, image, music, news, software, Q&A, encyclopedia, shopping, and translation. It leverages proprietary AI algorithms to provide precise and convenient search results, targeting general internet users primarily in China. The website is well-branded, professionally designed, and maintains a consistent user experience with good navigation and content relevance. Technically, the site uses a custom CMS with JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Juicer templates, hosted by MarkMonitor in Shanghai. Performance is moderate with basic mobile optimization and accessibility features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain registration protections, though DNSSEC is not enabled and security headers are not explicitly observed. Privacy and terms policies are present but cookie consent mechanisms are lacking. No direct contact or incident response information is publicly available. Overall, the site is trustworthy and legitimate with strong business credibility and moderate privacy compliance.

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

7 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 sogou.com

This scan found 26 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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  • 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
67
Security headers
15
Email security
65
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
62

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

Sogou operates as a leading technology company in the Chinese search engine market, positioned as a third-generation interactive search platform. Its business model centers on providing diversified search services enhanced by AI, targeting a broad user base including general consumers and specialized verticals like medical and translation services. The company benefits from partnerships with Tencent, evident from linked domains and advertising integrations. Revenue streams likely include advertising and enterprise promotions. The company has a long-standing market presence since 2001, indicating maturity and stability. The ecosystem includes multiple subsidiary domains serving niche search verticals. Strategic observations highlight strong branding consistency and trust signals such as government ICP licenses and domain longevity.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain status locks preventing unauthorized changes. However, the absence of DNSSEC and lack of visible security headers such as Content Security Policy or HSTS represent areas for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The site lacks publicly disclosed security policies or incident response contacts, which could hinder transparency and rapid response to security incidents. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by adopting modern security headers, DNSSEC, and explicit incident response disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  4. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve trust and readiness.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet modern standards and improve user experience for all users.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MarkMonitor Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
Description
搜狗搜索是全球第三代互动式搜索引擎，支持微信公众号和文章搜索、知乎搜索、英文搜索及翻译等，通过自主研发的人工智能算法为用户提供专业、精准、便捷的搜索服务。
Key services
Web search, WeChat search, Zhihu search, Video search, Image search, Music search, News search, Software search, Q&A search, Encyclopedia search
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, jQuery 1.11.0, Juicer template engine, Custom Sogou JS libraries
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status includes client and server prohibitions (delete, transfer, update)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Tencent Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Tencent Advertising
Tracking pixels
Tencent Trace (h.trace.qq.com)
Marketing tools
Tencent Analytics, Sogou internal tracking
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a major Chinese search engine with broad service offerings.
  2. Content is primarily in Chinese and targeted at general internet users.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on main page.
  4. Privacy and terms pages are present and accessible.
  5. No explicit security or incident response contact information found.
  6. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security gap.
  7. Use of Tencent-related domains and tracking indicates partnership or advertising relationship.
  8. No adult or questionable content detected.
  9. Website uses HTTPS and modern JavaScript libraries but could improve accessibility and security headers.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom-built CMS with JavaScript frameworks including jQuery 1.11.0 and Juicer templates. It loads resources from multiple sogoucdn.com subdomains indicating a CDN usage for performance. The site is hosted by MarkMonitor Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., a reputable registrar and hosting provider. Performance is moderate with some room for improvement in mobile optimization and accessibility. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and structured navigation. No major technical debt or deprecated technologies were detected, but updating jQuery to a more recent version could improve security and performance.
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. 62/100Medium35 findingsView report
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