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Security report for thetradedesk.com

The Trade Desk · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

67/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Trade Desk operates a leading independent omnichannel advertising platform designed to empower marketers and agencies with data-driven media buying capabilities. Positioned as a major player in the technology and media sectors, the company offers a self-serve demand-side platform (DSP) that leverages AI and access to premium inventory and audience data to optimize advertising campaigns across the open internet. Their extensive partner ecosystem and certifications underscore their market credibility and commitment to industry standards. Technically, the website is built on modern frameworks such as React and Next.js, integrating marketing and analytics tools like Marketo and Google Analytics. While the site demonstrates excellent content quality, branding consistency, and user experience, performance issues such as slow load times and a lack of a valid SSL certificate (per scan data) present security and usability concerns. The security posture is moderate with strong email authentication (SPF, DMARC) but lacks critical HTTPS enforcement and security headers. Privacy compliance is robust with clear policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the site reflects a mature digital presence but requires urgent improvements in SSL and security configurations to enhance trust and protect user data.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of thetradedesk.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 100 · High
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 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 thetradedesk.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

€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
75
Security headers
20
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
Average
67

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention thetradedesk.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
637
Employees
6
Customers
571
Third parties
60
Weak passwords
13%

Latest record dated 2026-05-13 · 20 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for thetradedesk.com.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –shop.thetradedesk.com2026-05-13
  • –shop.thetradedesk.com2025-11-14
  • –shop.thetradedesk.com2025-09-17
  • –shop.thetradedesk.com2025-08-20
  • –shop.thetradedesk.com2025-04-15

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The Trade Desk's market positioning as a technology-driven media buying platform is reinforced by its extensive partner network and adherence to industry certifications such as IAB and the Digital Advertising Alliance. Their business model focuses on providing transparent, AI-powered programmatic advertising solutions to brands and agencies globally. The company targets sophisticated marketers seeking omnichannel reach and data-driven insights. The presence of dedicated portals for developers, careers, investors, and education (Edge Academy) indicates a well-structured ecosystem supporting growth and innovation. The platform's reliance on open internet principles and premium inventory access positions it competitively against walled gardens. Strategic partnerships and a comprehensive resource desk further enhance their market reach and customer engagement.

Security posture

The security analysis reveals a mixed posture. The domain has well-configured DNS records including SPF and DMARC with a reject policy, which strengthens email security and reduces phishing risks. However, the absence of a valid SSL certificate in the scan data is a critical issue that undermines HTTPS security, potentially exposing users to interception and trust warnings. The lack of HSTS, OCSP stapling, session resumption, and security headers further weakens the site's defense against common web threats. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts were found, indicating a potential gap in transparency and readiness. The site uses secure third-party services for analytics and marketing but should prioritize fixing SSL and implementing security headers to improve overall security posture and user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Immediately install and maintain a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS and protect user data.
  2. Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) with includeSubDomains and preload to enforce secure connections.
  3. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common attacks.
  4. Enable OCSP stapling and session resumption to improve SSL performance and security.
  5. Establish and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and security culture.
Technical notes

Notes

The website leverages a modern technology stack centered on React and Next.js, enabling server-side rendering and improved SEO. Integration with marketing automation (Marketo), video platforms (YouTube, Vimeo), and analytics (Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Cloudflare Insights) demonstrates a mature digital marketing infrastructure. However, performance metrics indicate slow page load times and a large page size, suggesting optimization opportunities in resource loading and asset management. The site is mobile responsive with good accessibility features, supporting a broad user base. DNS configuration is robust with multiple A and AAAA records, and email security is enhanced by SPF and DMARC. Hosting appears to be via Cloudflare, providing CDN and security benefits. Overall, the technical foundation is strong but requires performance tuning and security enhancements to reduce risks and improve user experience.
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. 82/100 +1Low24 findingsView report
  2. 81/100Low25 findingsView report
  3. 81/100Low25 findingsView report
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