Skip to main content

Security report for ard.social

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD) · Media · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Email security, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

ARD.social is the official Mastodon instance operated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD), a major German public broadcasting consortium. The platform serves as a decentralized social network primarily for ARD's editorial content and German-speaking audiences. The website leverages the open-source Mastodon platform (version 4.2.18) and is hosted on Google Cloud infrastructure, ensuring modern technology adoption and reliable performance. The domain was registered in 2022, aligning with the platform's recent launch. Technically, the site employs React and JavaScript frameworks, with media assets hosted on Google Cloud Storage. The website is mobile-optimized and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and consistent branding. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain status protections in place; however, DNSSEC is not enabled, and security headers are not explicitly detected, representing areas for improvement. Privacy compliance is generally good, with a comprehensive privacy policy present, but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, ARD.social demonstrates a trustworthy and professional presence as a public media social platform. The absence of contact information and incident response details limits transparency in security and support channels. Strategic enhancements in DNS security, security headers, and privacy consent mechanisms would strengthen the platform's security and compliance posture.

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

4 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. 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

  3. 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.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching ard.social

This scan found 22 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
75
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
73

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention ard.social, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for ard.social right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

ARD.social occupies a unique market position as the official decentralized social media platform for ARD, Germany's public broadcasting consortium. Its business model focuses on providing a non-commercial, community-driven social network tailored to ARD's editorial content and audience engagement. The platform benefits from ARD's strong brand recognition and public trust. Revenue streams are likely indirect, supporting ARD's public service mission rather than commercial monetization. The target audience includes German-speaking users interested in public broadcasting content and decentralized social networking. The platform's partnership with Mastodon and hosting on Google Cloud reflects a modern and scalable infrastructure. The ecosystem includes links to related media sites such as tagesschau.de and swr3.de, reinforcing content synergy. Growth indicators include active user profiles and integration with the broader Mastodon network. Strategic observations suggest opportunities to enhance user engagement through improved privacy and security transparency.

Security posture

The security posture of ARD.social is moderate to good. The site enforces HTTPS and uses domain status flags to prevent unauthorized domain transfers or deletions. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which could expose the domain to DNS spoofing risks. No explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or Strict-Transport-Security were detected, which are recommended best practices to mitigate common web vulnerabilities. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were found in the HTML content. The absence of publicly listed incident response contacts or security policies limits the platform's readiness and transparency in handling security incidents. Privacy compliance is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy, but the lack of a cookie consent mechanism is a compliance gap under GDPR. Overall, the platform demonstrates a baseline security posture suitable for a public media service but would benefit from enhancements in DNS security, HTTP headers, and incident response transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing attacks.
  2. Implement and configure security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve web security posture.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply fully with GDPR cookie regulations.
  4. Publish clear incident response and security contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD)
Description
Die offizielle Mastodon-Instanz der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD). Bestimmt für die redaktionellen Angebote der ARD.
Key services
Decentralized social networking via Mastodon, Content sharing and discovery, Community engagement for ARD editorial content
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.2.18, JavaScript, React, CSS, Google Cloud Storage (media hosting), Squarespace Domains (Registrar), Google Cloud DNS
Frameworks
Mastodon, React
Platforms
Mastodon social network
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by wss:// and https:// URLs)
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an official Mastodon instance for ARD, a major German public broadcaster.
  2. Content is in German and targeted at ARD editorial audiences.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the explored page.
  5. No cookie consent banner detected despite GDPR compliance indication.
  6. No terms of service page detected on the explored page.
  7. Uses modern web technologies and open-source Mastodon platform.
  8. No advertising or tracking scripts detected.
  9. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Mastodon open-source social networking platform, version 4.2.18, utilizing React and JavaScript for frontend rendering. Media assets are hosted on Google Cloud Storage, and DNS is managed via Google Cloud DNS. The domain is registered with Squarespace Domains II LLC, with domain status flags set to prevent unauthorized changes. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by comprehensive meta tags and Open Graph data. No CMS is detected, as the platform is a custom Mastodon instance. The technical stack is modern and appropriate for a decentralized social network but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC configuration, which are recommended for improved security and trust.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with ard.social. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review ard.social.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.