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Security report for writethedocs.org

Write the Docs · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

64/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Write the Docs is a global community focused on technical documentation, providing conferences, online resources, and networking opportunities for documentarians and related professionals. The organization operates primarily as a community-driven non-profit with a strong presence in the technology and education sectors. Their website is well-structured, content-rich, and targets a diverse audience including programmers, technical writers, and customer support professionals. Technically, the site leverages modern documentation tools such as Sphinx and is hosted on the Read the Docs platform, ensuring reliable performance and accessibility. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS but lacks some security headers and explicit privacy and cookie policies, which are areas for improvement. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional, with a strong community focus and good digital maturity.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 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

7 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 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 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

      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 writethedocs.org

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.

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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
35
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
64

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 organization holds a solid market position as a recognized community for documentation professionals worldwide. Its business model centers on community engagement through events, sponsorships, and educational content rather than direct commercial sales. Partnerships with Read the Docs and GitBook enhance its ecosystem and service offerings. The target customers are technical communicators and software professionals seeking to improve documentation quality. Growth indicators include recurring conferences across multiple continents and active online engagement. The lack of detailed WHOIS data suggests privacy protection, which is common for community organizations. The website's sponsorship and social media presence further reinforce its credibility and outreach.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced, which is mandatory for secure communications. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces its defense-in-depth posture. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The lack of a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file indicates limited formal incident response readiness. Privacy compliance is partial, with no explicit privacy or cookie policies found, which could pose compliance risks under GDPR or similar regulations. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a community site but could be enhanced with additional best practices and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear GDPR compliance statements.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve security posture.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting and incident response.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to improve inclusivity and compliance with standards.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party libraries and dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Write the Docs
Description
Write the Docs is a global community of people who care about documentation. They provide conferences, a Slack network, meetups, resources, and guides for technical writers and documentarians.
Key services
Conferences (in-person and virtual), Slack community, Meetups, Hiring guides, Salary surveys, Learning resources, Newsletter
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Sphinx, Docutils, jQuery, Underscore.js, Font Awesome 6, Mailchimp, EthicalAds, Simple Analytics
Frameworks
Sphinx documentation generator
Platforms
Read the Docs hosting
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced

Analytics and tracking

Services
Simple Analytics
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
EthicalAds
Tracking pixels
EthicalAds, Simple Analytics
Marketing tools
Mailchimp
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and community resources.
  2. No WHOIS data available due to query failure; domain appears privacy protected.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found on main page or footer.
  4. Contact information is available via contact page and footer links.
  5. Uses modern web technologies and is hosted on Read the Docs platform.
  6. No security headers detected; HTTPS is enforced.
  7. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  8. Advertising is limited to EthicalAds with privacy-first analytics.
  9. Social media presence includes GitHub, Twitter, LinkedIn.
  10. Content is safe and appropriate for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using the Sphinx documentation framework with Docutils, enhanced by JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Underscore.js. It uses Font Awesome 6 for icons and integrates third-party services like Mailchimp for newsletters, EthicalAds for advertising, and Simple Analytics for privacy-focused analytics. Hosting on Read the Docs provides a stable and specialized platform for documentation projects. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and SEO practices, though accessibility could be improved. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by external scripts and ad loading. The technical stack is modern and appropriate for the site's community and educational focus, with opportunities to strengthen security and privacy implementations.
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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