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Security report for zhihu.com

知乎 · Technology · China

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and GDPR outside view.

Security score

67/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Zhihu is a leading Chinese knowledge-sharing and original content platform founded in 2011. It serves a broad audience interested in technology, business, culture, and more, providing a professional Q&A community and content monetization opportunities. The platform is well-established with a strong market position in China and offers multiple services including app-based access and institutional accounts. Technically, Zhihu employs modern web technologies such as React and Sentry for error monitoring, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. The site is optimized for performance and SEO, with good mobile support and accessibility features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforcement and secure login mechanisms, although explicit security headers and vulnerability disclosure policies could be enhanced. Privacy compliance is partially met with clear privacy and terms of service pages but lacks visible cookie consent mechanisms. WHOIS data is unavailable, which slightly reduces trust but is offset by the platform's certifications and business presence. Overall, Zhihu presents a professional, secure, and trustworthy platform with room for improvement in privacy and security transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  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 zhihu.com

This scan found 15 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
0
Security headers
75
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Zhihu operates as an essential entity in the technology and media sectors, targeting a large Chinese-speaking audience. Its business model revolves around community-driven content creation and monetization, leveraging a strong brand and professional content quality. The platform benefits from multiple official certifications and a broad ecosystem including partnerships for recruitment and investor relations. Zhihu's competitive advantage lies in its structured Q&A format, high-quality user-generated content, and a loyal user base. Revenue streams likely include advertising, premium memberships, and content monetization. The company demonstrates growth potential through continuous platform enhancements and ecosystem expansion. Strategic partnerships and certifications reinforce its market credibility and operational legitimacy.

Security posture

Zhihu exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced site-wide and use of modern security monitoring tools like Sentry. The login forms support secure authentication methods including SMS verification and password login. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analyzed content. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options is a gap that should be addressed to mitigate risks like clickjacking and cross-site scripting. The site provides an abuse reporting email, indicating incident response readiness, but lacks a dedicated security policy or vulnerability disclosure program. Privacy compliance is partial, with no visible cookie consent mechanism, which could be improved to align with GDPR and other regulations. Overall, the security posture is strong but can benefit from enhanced transparency and header implementation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and document comprehensive security headers including CSP, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen defense against common web attacks.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner/mechanism to improve privacy compliance and user transparency.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting and improve security posture.
  4. Enhance incident response information by providing dedicated security contact channels beyond abuse reporting.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and dependencies to minimize risk from vulnerable libraries.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
知乎
Description
知乎，中文互联网高质量的问答社区和创作者聚集的原创内容平台，于 2011 年 1 月正式上线，以「让人们更好的分享知识、经验和见解，找到自己的解答」为品牌使命。知乎凭借认真、专业、友善的社区氛围、独特的产品机制以及结构化和易获得的优质内容，聚集了中文互联网科技、商业、影视、时尚、文化等领域最具创造力的人群，已成为综合性、全品类、在诸多领域具有关键影响力的知识分享社区和创作者聚集的原创内容平台，建立起了以社区驱动的内容变现商业模式。
Key services
Q&A community, Original content platform, Content monetization
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React 17.0.2, Sentry for error tracking, Baidu analytics, JavaScript ES6+, CSS Emotion, Webpack bundling
Frameworks
React
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Sentry for error monitoring
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure login forms with SMS and password options

Analytics and tracking

Services
Baidu Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Baidu Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenge.
  2. Content is professional, well-structured, and targeted at a broad Chinese-speaking audience.
  3. Multiple official licenses and certifications are displayed prominently.
  4. WHOIS data is unavailable or protected, which is unusual but not uncommon for large platforms.
  5. No explicit privacy cookie consent mechanism detected, which may affect compliance.
  6. Security practices are good but could be improved with explicit security headers and vulnerability disclosure.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks like React and Sentry.
  8. Contact information includes a verified abuse email and a contact page link.
  9. No adult or NSFW content detected; content is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

Zhihu's technical infrastructure is modern and robust, leveraging React 17 for frontend rendering and Sentry for error tracking. The site uses Webpack for bundling and Emotion for CSS-in-JS styling, indicating a contemporary development approach. Performance is optimized with preloading of fonts and assets, and the site is mobile-friendly with good accessibility features. Analytics are implemented via Baidu Analytics, with data collection through JavaScript pixels and beacon API. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom-built platform. Hosting details are not explicit but likely use a CDN and cloud infrastructure given the scale. Technical risks are minimal, but the absence of explicit security headers and cookie consent mechanisms are areas for improvement. Overall, the technical stack supports a fast, scalable, and user-friendly platform.
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. 81/100Low25 findingsView report
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