Overview
Findings
Actions
Details
Related
AI-Generated Summary
What this means
w3techs.com scored 62/100, meeting baseline requirements but with 6 findings that require attention. The vendor can proceed with a remediation timeline agreement.
Critical gaps in: HSTS Header, Security Headers. Positive signals: MX Records & Mail Provider, TLS Configuration, Cookie Security all passed.
5 action items identified, including 0 critical. The issues are configuration gaps, not architectural problems. A focused remediation effort of 2–5 days could address all findings.
How w3techs.com compares
Grade distribution across 2497 companies we've scanned. w3techs.com scores better than 25% of them.
78
A+
25
A
183
A-
190
B+
72
B
347
B-
120
C+
116
C
319
C-
116
D+
94
D
237
D-
600
F
w3techs.com — Grade D- (62/100)
2497 companies scanned
Security checks
Each check inspects a different part of w3techs.com's public security setup. Green means healthy, yellow needs attention, red is a problem.
HSTS Header
Strict-Transport-Security header is missing. Connections can be downgraded to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks.
Security Headers
1/5 security headers present. Missing: CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. This exposes the application to clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and other client-side attacks.
MTA-STS & TLS Reporting
Issues: No MTA-STS configured — email in transit is vulnerable to TLS downgrade attacks. Sending servers cannot verify that your mail server requires TLS; No TLSRPT record — TLS delivery failures won't be reported to domain owner.
DNS CAA Records
No CAA records found. Without CAA, any Certificate Authority can issue certificates for this domain. Adding CAA records restricts issuance to authorized CAs only, reducing the risk of misissued certificates.
DNS Configuration
Strengths: 3 nameservers configured (robotns2.second-ns.de., robotns3.second-ns.com., ns1.first-ns.de.); 2 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.
security.txt (RFC 9116)
No security.txt found. Publishing a security.txt at /.well-known/security.txt is the industry standard (RFC 9116) for vulnerability disclosure policies. Its absence may indicate a less mature security program.
CVE Exposure
Detected technologies: Apache/2.4.58, PHP/8.3.6. 2 high-severity CVE(s) found (CVSS 7.0–8.9): CVE-2023-43622, CVE-2023-38709. Patching recommended.
DMARC / Email Security
Strengths: DMARC policy set to reject (strongest). Issues: SPF record uses neutral (?all) — no real enforcement; No DKIM records found for common selectors (domain may use custom selectors — this is not a confirmed gap).
MX Records & Mail Provider
Strengths: Mail handled by in1-smtp.messagingengine.com; 2 MX record(s) configured; Multiple MX records provide redundancy.
TLS Configuration
TLSv1.3 negotiated with TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256-bit). Strong configuration with no deprecated protocols or weak ciphers detected.
Cookie Security
No cookies set on the homepage response. No cookie security flags to evaluate.
Known Breaches
No known breaches found in public disclosure databases.
TLS Protocol Support
Strengths: TLS 1.3 supported; TLS 1.2 supported; TLS 1.3 supported (strongest). Protocol support: TLS 1.3: Yes, TLS 1.2: Yes, TLS 1.1: No, TLS 1.0: No.
Certificate Hygiene
Strengths: Certificate valid, 40 days remaining; Issued by Let's Encrypt.
Recommended actions
5 items
Steps to improve w3techs.com's security grade, ranked by impact.
1
Enable HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)
The HSTS header is missing on w3techs.com. Without it, connections can be downgraded from HTTPS to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks. This is a straightforward server configuration change.
Compliance impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Required application security controls
NIST 800-53SC-8
Transmission confidentiality and integrity
How to fix this
1
Add header: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
2
Verify all subdomains support HTTPS before adding includeSubDomains
3
Test with: curl -sI https://w3techs.com | grep -i strict
4
Submit to hstspreload.org after confirming the header is correct
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2
Add missing security headers (CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy)
4 of 5 recommended security headers are missing on w3techs.com: CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. These headers protect against clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and unauthorized browser feature access. Adding them is a server configuration change with no application code changes required.
Compliance impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Security headers are required application controls
OWASPSecure Headers
Recommended baseline for web applications
How to fix this
1
Add a Content-Security-Policy header. Safe starting value (works with Google Fonts and inline styles/scripts): default-src 'self'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://fonts.googleapis.com; font-src 'self' https://fonts.gstatic.com; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; upgrade-insecure-requests. Test your site after adding it, then tighten over time by removing 'unsafe-inline'.
2
Add: X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
3
Add: Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
4
Add: Permissions-Policy: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()
5
Verify with: curl -sI https://w3techs.com | grep -iE 'content-security|x-frame|x-content|referrer|permissions'
3
Strengthen email authentication configuration
Email authentication is partially configured for w3techs.com but has gaps. Actions needed: configure DKIM. Until DMARC enforcement is active, spoofed emails may still reach recipients.
Compliance impact
NIST CSFPR.AC-7
Email authentication is a required access control
How to fix this
1
Configure DKIM and publish public key in DNS
2
Verify with: nslookup -type=txt _dmarc.w3techs.com
4
Enable DNSSEC on your domain
Without DNSSEC, DNS responses for w3techs.com can be spoofed, potentially redirecting users to malicious sites. This requires coordination with your domain registrar to publish DS records.
Compliance impact
NIST 800-53SC-20
Secure name/address resolution service
How to fix this
1
Check if your DNS provider supports DNSSEC (Cloudflare, Route53, etc.)
2
Enable DNSSEC signing in your DNS provider dashboard
3
Add the DS record to your registrar for .com TLD
4
Verify: dig +dnssec w3techs.com
5
Review potential CVE exposure in detected software
Software detected on w3techs.com has potential CVE matches. Review the specific CVEs and confirm whether the installed version is affected.
How to fix this
1
Review matched CVEs and confirm installed versions
2
Update software if vulnerable versions are confirmed
3
Consider hiding version information in server headers
At a glance
Key data points from the scan.
TLS Version
TLSv1.3
TLSv1.3 negotiated with TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256-bit). Strong configuration with no deprecated protocols or weak ciphers detected.
DMARC Policy
p=reject
Strengths: DMARC policy set to reject (strongest). Issues: SPF record uses neutral (?all) — no real enforcement; No DKIM records found for common selectors (domain may use custom selectors — this is not a confirmed gap).
SPF Record
Present
v=spf1 include:spf.messagingengine.com ?all
Security Headers
1/5 present
Missing: CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy
HSTS
Not enabled
Strict-Transport-Security header is missing. Connections can be downgraded to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks.
SSL Certificate
Valid
Strengths: Certificate valid, 40 days remaining; Issued by Let's Encrypt.
DNSSEC
Not enabled
Strengths: 3 nameservers configured (robotns2.second-ns.de., robotns3.second-ns.com., ns1.first-ns.de.); 2 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.