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Security report for the4.co

The4™ Studio · E-commerce · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Email security and 1 other check.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The4™ Studio is a specialized e-commerce business focused on providing free and premium Shopify themes, apps, and related services such as web design, store setup, and performance optimization. Established in 2017, it targets Shopify store owners and developers seeking high-quality, mobile-friendly, and SEO-optimized themes. The company maintains a solid market position with a medium-sized operation and a consistent brand presence across multiple social media platforms and review sites. Technically, the website is built on the Shopify platform using modern JavaScript libraries, third-party marketing tools, and SEO best practices, delivering a good user experience with moderate performance. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enforced and domain locking, but lacks advanced DNS security and published security policies. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with privacy regulations, though improvements in security transparency and DNSSEC are recommended.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of the4.co. View the latest report

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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • High

      No SPF record found

      SPF helps prevent email spoofing

      What to do: Add SPF record: "v=spf1 include:_spf.yourmailprovider.com ~all"

  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 the4.co

This scan found 19 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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Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
75
Email security
55
DNS health
80
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

The4™ Studio operates in the e-commerce sector, leveraging Shopify's ecosystem to offer themes and apps alongside value-added services. Its business model includes direct sales of digital products and service contracts, supported by affiliate marketing partnerships and extensive use of analytics and marketing tools. The company demonstrates growth potential through active community engagement and a broad product portfolio. Its partnerships with Shopify and marketing affiliates enhance its market reach. The absence of a parent company or subsidiaries suggests an independent operation focused on niche expertise in Shopify solutions.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS and domain registration protections in place. However, it lacks explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. DNSSEC is not enabled, which is a notable gap in DNS security. The use of multiple third-party scripts introduces potential risk vectors, though no immediate vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Compliance with GDPR is indicated by privacy and cookie policies, but further enhancements in security headers and transparency would strengthen the security posture.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Add additional security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options.
  5. Regularly review and audit third-party scripts and integrations for security risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The4™ Studio
Description
Create a beautiful and functional online store with free or premium Shopify themes and templates. Our themes are mobile-friendly, responsive, and SEO-optimized, so you can be sure your store will look great on any device and attract more customers.
Key services
Shopify Themes (free and premium), Shopify Apps, Web Design & Development, Store Setup, Speed & Performance Optimization, App Customization, Theme Customization, Support & Maintenance
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Shopify platform, JavaScript, Liquid templating, Cloudflare DNS, Google Tag Manager, Facebook SDK, TikTok Business API, Klaviyo, Avada SEO Suite, EComposer Page Builder, EComRise apps, OptiMonk, Crisp Chat
Frameworks
Shopify Dawn theme framework, Avada SEO Suite
Platforms
Shopify
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain locked with multiple EPP status flags
  • No DNSSEC enabled (recommend enabling)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of CAPTCHA on forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Shopify Analytics, Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics, TikTok Analytics, Klaviyo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads (implied via Google Tag Manager), Facebook Ads (via Facebook SDK), TikTok Ads (via TikTok Business API)
Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (via Trekkie), Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, Klaviyo, Shopify Analytics
Marketing tools
Avada SEO Suite, OptiMonk, EComRise apps, Adoric
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional Shopify theme and app provider with a broad service offering
  2. Uses multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools
  3. No explicit security or incident response policies published
  4. Good SEO and structured data implementation
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  6. Domain is privacy protected but consistent with business claims
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Shopify using the Dawn theme framework and integrates multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools including Google Tag Manager, Facebook SDK, TikTok API, Klaviyo, and Avada SEO Suite. It uses modern JavaScript and CSS with deferred and async loading for performance optimization. Hosting is via Shopify's CDN with Cloudflare DNS. The site is mobile-optimized and uses structured data for SEO. Performance is moderate with room for improvement in load times and accessibility. The technical stack is modern and well-integrated but could benefit from enhanced security configurations and performance tuning.
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. 75/100Medium27 findingsView report
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