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Security report for w3counter.com

Awio Web Services LLC · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

W3Counter is a web analytics and marketing widget provider operated by Awio Web Services LLC. The company offers free and paid plans to website owners and bloggers to track visitor statistics, increase engagement, and improve conversions through customizable widgets such as popups, contact forms, and promotion bars. The website is professionally designed with clear navigation and responsive layout, leveraging modern web technologies including Bootstrap, jQuery, and Typekit fonts. The technical infrastructure includes proprietary tracking scripts and third-party marketing tools like Improvely. Security posture is generally good with HTTPS enforced and secure form handling, though the absence of security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates room for improvement. The lack of WHOIS domain registration data is a notable concern, potentially impacting trust and legitimacy perceptions. Overall, the site is functional and business-focused but would benefit from enhanced privacy compliance and transparency.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of w3counter.com. View the latest report

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

6 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 w3counter.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
65
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
63

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 w3counter.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1,443
Employees
0
Customers
1,443
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
24%

5 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 w3counter.com.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

W3Counter targets small to medium website owners and bloggers seeking affordable web analytics and marketing tools. Its freemium business model offers a free tier with basic features and paid plans with extended data retention and advanced widget capabilities. The company positions itself as a niche player in the web analytics market, emphasizing ease of use and widget integration without coding. Revenue streams likely derive from subscription fees and possibly marketing partnerships. The presence of social media links and marketing tracking tools suggests active engagement in digital marketing. The company appears small but established since 2004, with no evident subsidiaries or parent companies. The website content and pricing plans indicate a focus on usability and customer acquisition through free offerings and upselling.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses secure POST methods for contact forms, which is positive. However, the absence of common security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Privacy compliance is basic, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent banner or GDPR-specific disclosures. Incident response and security policy information are not published, limiting transparency. Tracking scripts from Improvely and W3Counter indicate extensive user data collection, which should be balanced with stronger privacy controls. Overall, the security maturity is moderate but could be improved by implementing security headers, cookie consent, and publishing security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement standard security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to enhance site security.
  2. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Investigate and resolve the missing WHOIS domain registration data to strengthen domain legitimacy and trustworthiness.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to ensure privacy compliance and minimize user data exposure.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Awio Web Services LLC
Description
W3Counter provides free and paid web statistics and website widgets to help website owners learn about their visitors, increase sales, and track growth.
Key services
Web statistics reports, Website widgets (popups, contact forms, promotion bars, opt-in bars), Marketing link builder, Conversion and revenue tracking
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 3, jQuery 1.11.3, Font Awesome 4.5.0, Typekit Fonts, Google Fonts (Open Sans), Custom JavaScript widgets, Improvely tracking, W3Counter tracking scripts
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure forms with POST method
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
W3Counter, Improvely
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Improvely
Marketing tools
Improvely, W3Counter tracking
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website content is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF detected
  2. WHOIS data is missing or domain is unregistered, which is unusual for an active site
  3. Site uses HTTPS with modern tracking and marketing scripts
  4. Privacy policy and terms of service are present but privacy compliance could be improved
  5. Multiple marketing widgets offered with clear pricing plans
  6. Contact forms and email contact available but no phone numbers or physical addresses found
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response information published
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a classic Bootstrap 3 framework with jQuery 1.11.3 and Font Awesome 4.5.0, indicating a somewhat dated but stable tech stack. Fonts are loaded via Typekit and Google Fonts. Tracking and marketing scripts include Improvely and proprietary W3Counter scripts. The site is mobile responsive and well-structured with clear navigation. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous script loading and CDN usage for libraries. No CMS or hosting provider information was detected. Technical debt is moderate due to older library versions but no critical risks were identified. Opportunities exist to modernize the stack and improve accessibility and SEO further.
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. 64/100Medium34 findingsView report
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