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Security report for thestorygraph.com

The StoryGraph Ltd. · Technology · N/a

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

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The StoryGraph Ltd. operates a specialized digital platform focused on book tracking, personalized recommendations, and community engagement for readers. Positioned as an Amazon-free alternative to Goodreads, it leverages AI to tailor book suggestions based on user mood and preferences. The platform offers a freemium business model with a paid Plus plan for enhanced features, targeting avid readers and book enthusiasts globally. The website is professionally designed, mobile-optimized, and features comprehensive content that clearly communicates its value proposition and services. Technically, the website is built on a modern stack including Ruby on Rails and Tailwind CSS, hosted behind Cloudflare for DNS and CDN services. The site demonstrates good performance, accessibility, and SEO practices, with secure HTTPS connections and CSRF protections in place. However, some security headers are not evident in the provided data, and DNSSEC is not enabled, representing areas for improvement. From a security perspective, the site maintains a solid posture with encrypted communications and domain transfer protections. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contacts and lack of a cookie consent mechanism are notable gaps. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The WHOIS data aligns well with the business claims, showing a mature domain registration consistent with the company's operational history. Overall, The StoryGraph presents a trustworthy, well-maintained platform with strong business credibility and technical maturity. Strategic enhancements in security policy transparency, cookie consent, and DNS security would further strengthen its compliance and user trust.

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

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 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

  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 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 thestorygraph.com

This scan found 21 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
75
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
71

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

The StoryGraph holds a competitive position as a niche alternative to Goodreads, emphasizing personalized AI-driven book recommendations and mood-based discovery. Its freemium model with a Plus subscription suggests diversified revenue streams. The platform targets a global audience of readers seeking better book tracking and community features. Media coverage from reputable outlets enhances brand credibility. The company appears small but focused, with a clear growth trajectory supported by mobile app availability and planned features like book clubs. Partnerships are primarily content and media-related, with no evident payment or service partners disclosed. The business model leverages technology to differentiate in a crowded market, focusing on user experience and data-driven personalization.

Security posture

The StoryGraph demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and CSRF protections implemented. The domain is secured with clientTransferProhibited status, reducing hijacking risks. However, the lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options indicate room for improvement. No public security or incident response policies were found, which could impact transparency and user confidence. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism may present compliance risks under GDPR. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced policy publication and technical hardening.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and verify security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and trust.
  4. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  5. Consider providing direct company contact emails or phone numbers for improved user support and credibility.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The StoryGraph Ltd.
Description
The StoryGraph is an all-in-one platform to track reading habits, get personalized book recommendations based on mood and preferences, and engage with friends through live reactions and buddy reads. It offers features like custom tags, reading challenges, content warnings, half & quarter star ratings, reading journals, and an upcoming book club feature.
Key services
Reading tracking, Personalized book recommendations, Mood-based book discovery, Buddy reads with live reactions, Reading challenges, Content warnings, Reading journal
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Tailwind CSS, Cloudflare DNS and likely CDN, Google Fonts, JavaScript (custom application.js)
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails
Platforms
Web, iOS App Store, Google Play Store
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by domain and links)
  • CSRF tokens present in meta tags
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

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 no blocking detected.
  2. Strong branding and consistent design throughout the site.
  3. Comprehensive feature set targeting book readers and enthusiasts.
  4. No direct company contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via form only.
  5. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected despite privacy policy presence.
  6. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy.
  7. Social media presence on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok.
  8. No advertising or tracking scripts detected in provided HTML.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern and robust technology stack featuring Ruby on Rails and Tailwind CSS, ensuring maintainability and scalability. Hosting behind Cloudflare provides CDN and DNS resilience. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices and demonstrates fast loading times and good SEO practices. The use of CSRF tokens indicates attention to security in form handling. No CMS was detected, suggesting a custom-built solution tailored to the business needs. The absence of analytics or tracking scripts in the provided HTML suggests a privacy-conscious approach or deferred loading. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience with opportunities to enhance security configurations.
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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