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Security report for youdao.com

网易有道 · Education · China

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

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

网易有道 is a leading Chinese intelligent learning company established in 2006, offering user-oriented educational products such as dictionaries, premium courses, translation tools, and cloud notes. It is a publicly listed company under the parent company 网易集团, with a strong market position as a unicorn and NYSE-listed entity. The website demonstrates a modern technical infrastructure using Vue.js and JavaScript libraries, hosted on Alibaba Cloud, with moderate performance and good mobile optimization. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC. Privacy and cookie policies are not found, indicating compliance gaps. Overall, the website is professional and trustworthy but could improve privacy compliance and security practices.

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 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

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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
85
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
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

网易有道 operates primarily in the education sector, targeting general consumers and learners in China. Its business model includes B2C and B2B educational services with key offerings like Youdao Dictionary and Youdao Premium Courses. The company has achieved significant growth, strategic financing, and public listing, indicating strong market presence and credibility. The website reflects consistent branding and professional content, supporting its business credibility. However, absence of explicit contact information and privacy policies may limit user trust and regulatory compliance.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and modern JavaScript frameworks but lacks DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is published. Tracking scripts are present without visible cookie consent mechanisms, posing privacy compliance risks. No exposed sensitive data or known vulnerabilities detected. Security maturity is moderate, with room for improvement in policy transparency and technical safeguards.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies with user consent mechanisms to comply with GDPR and other regulations.
  4. Provide explicit contact information including security incident response and data protection officer contacts.
  5. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program and publish security.txt to improve transparency and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
网易有道
Description
网易有道是中国领先的智能学习公司，致力于提供100%以用户为导向的学习产品和服务。有道成立于2006年，打造了一系列深受用户喜欢的口碑型大众学习工具产品，例如：网易有道词典、有道精品课、有道翻译官、有道云笔记等。2014年，网易有道宣布正式进军互联网教育行业。2018年4月，网易有道完成首次战略融资，投后估值11.2亿美金，跻身独角兽阵营。2019年10月，网易有道成功登陆纽交所，股票代码为“DAO”，成为网易集团首个独立上市的公司。
Key services
Youdao Dictionary, Youdao Premium Courses, Youdao Translator, Youdao Cloud Notes
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Vue.js, Swiper.js
Frameworks
Vue.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled

Analytics and tracking

Services
rlog
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
rlog, yadk
Marketing tools
rlog, yadk
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content focused on education.
  2. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the main page.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content provided.
  4. Uses modern JavaScript frameworks and hosting on Alibaba Cloud.
  5. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security gap.
  6. No visible security headers detected in the provided data.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  8. No data protection officer contact information found.
  9. Website content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
  10. Tracking scripts present but no explicit cookie consent mechanism detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses Vue.js framework and several JavaScript libraries such as Swiper.js for UI components. Hosting is provided by Alibaba Cloud, a reputable provider. The site shows good mobile optimization and SEO meta tags but lacks advanced accessibility features. Performance is moderate, likely due to multiple script loads. No CMS detected explicitly. Technical debt appears low but security enhancements are recommended to reduce risks.
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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