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Security report for whatarecookies.com

DLC Websites · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

WhatAreCookies.com is an educational website focused on providing detailed information about computer cookies, their usage, security implications, and browser cookie management. The site targets general internet users seeking to understand cookies and offers tools such as cookie checkers and guides on enabling, deleting, and viewing cookies. The business model appears to be advertising-supported, primarily through Google Adsense, with additional marketing tools like AddThis for social sharing. The website has been operational since at least 2002, as indicated by copyright notices, but domain registration data is missing or unavailable, which raises concerns about domain legitimacy. Technically, the website uses standard web technologies including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, with integrations for Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and AddThis. The site is moderately optimized for mobile devices and SEO, with a clear navigation structure and good content quality. However, there is no evidence of a CMS or modern frameworks, and performance is moderate. Accessibility features are basic. From a security perspective, the site lacks visible security headers and there is no confirmation of HTTPS usage from the provided data. The cookie consent banner is implemented, requesting user consent for cookies and non-personalized advertising, which is a positive privacy compliance indicator. However, the absence of privacy policy and terms of service pages, as well as missing WHOIS registration data, reduce the overall trustworthiness and security posture. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided. Overall, the website is a useful educational resource with moderate technical maturity and basic privacy compliance. The main risk lies in the unclear domain registration status, which should be investigated further. Strategic recommendations include securing the domain registration, implementing HTTPS and security headers, publishing privacy and terms policies, and enhancing accessibility and security practices.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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. 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.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  2. 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';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google Analytics

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching whatarecookies.com

This scan found 24 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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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
72
Security headers
30
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
66

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 website occupies a niche educational market focused on explaining computer cookies to general users. Its competitive advantage lies in clear, straightforward content and practical tools like cookie checkers. Revenue is likely generated through advertising networks such as Google Adsense. The target audience includes internet users concerned about privacy and cookie management. The site has maintained a consistent presence since 2002, indicating stability. Partnerships with related service providers like Dead Link Checker and Random Number Generator enhance its ecosystem. However, the lack of transparent domain registration and formal business information limits credibility. Growth potential exists through expanding content, improving compliance, and enhancing user engagement.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is basic. The site implements a cookie consent banner and requests non-personalized ads, indicating some privacy awareness. However, the absence of HTTPS confirmation, security headers, privacy policy, and incident response mechanisms are significant gaps. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Compliance with GDPR is minimal, limited to cookie consent. The lack of a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure process reduces readiness for incident handling. Overall, the security culture appears informal and could benefit from structured policies and technical improvements.

Recommendations

  1. Secure and verify domain registration to ensure legitimacy and trust.
  2. Implement HTTPS with strong TLS configuration and enforce secure connections.
  3. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  4. Publish comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service pages to improve compliance and transparency.
  5. Establish a vulnerability disclosure policy and publish a security.txt file to enhance incident response readiness.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
DLC Websites
Description
Educational website providing detailed information about computer cookies, their usage, security implications, and browser cookie management.
Key services
Cookie information and education, Cookie testing tools, Guides on enabling, deleting, and viewing cookies
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Google Adsense, AddThis, Google Analytics
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • Cookie consent banner with opt-out
  • Non-personalized ads requested

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense
Tracking pixels
AddThis
Marketing tools
AddThis
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich educational content about cookies.
  2. No privacy policy or terms of service pages found.
  3. Cookie consent banner present with opt-out functionality.
  4. WHOIS data missing or domain unregistered, inconsistent with website operation.
  5. Advertising via Google Adsense and tracking via Google Analytics and AddThis present.
  6. No security headers detected in HTML content; SSL status unknown.
  7. Contact email provided but no phone or physical address found.
  8. No forms detected on the homepage or main content.
  9. No social media official links detected; only AddThis social sharing buttons.
  10. No evidence of security or incident response policies.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a traditional web stack with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, integrating third-party services like Google Adsense, Google Analytics, and AddThis. It lacks modern frameworks or CMS indications. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization. Accessibility is basic and could be improved. No hosting provider or platform details are evident. The site would benefit from modernization efforts including improved security configurations, enhanced accessibility, and adoption of contemporary web technologies to reduce technical debt 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

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