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Security report for berlin.social

Technology · Germany

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

berlin.social is an independent Mastodon social networking instance focused on the Berlin community, providing a platform for local discussions and trending posts. It operates on the open-source Mastodon platform version 4.4.7, leveraging modern web technologies including React and ES modules. The site is accessible without WAF or security challenges and presents a good user experience with mobile optimization and clear navigation. Security posture is moderate with HTTPS likely enabled but lacking explicit security headers and cookie consent mechanisms. Privacy policy is present and GDPR compliance appears basic but adequate for the platform type. WHOIS data is unavailable due to TLD restrictions, but the site shows legitimacy through visible admin accounts and active user statistics.

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. 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

  2. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching berlin.social

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • 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
75
Security headers
75
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
58
Average
70

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 berlin.social, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
19
Employees
0
Customers
19
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
37%

1 subdomain affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for berlin.social.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The platform targets local Berlin users interested in social networking within the fediverse ecosystem. It operates as a small-scale community server without commercial advertising or extensive tracking. The business model is community-driven and non-commercial, focusing on providing a decentralized social media alternative. The site integrates with other Mastodon instances and related domains but does not show partnerships or subsidiaries. Growth indicators include active user counts and trending content features. The platform's open-source nature and transparency via GitHub source code links enhance trust and community engagement.

Security posture

Security maturity is moderate; HTTPS is presumed but no explicit security headers were detected in the provided data. The absence of cookie consent and terms of service reduces compliance completeness. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are published, which could impact user trust and regulatory compliance. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities were identified in the content. The platform would benefit from enhanced security headers, explicit privacy and cookie consent mechanisms, and published security policies to improve its security posture and compliance with GDPR and related regulations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, and X-Frame-Options.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and ePrivacy Directive requirements.
  3. Publish clear terms of service and vulnerability disclosure policies to enhance transparency and user trust.
  4. Provide explicit contact information for security incidents and data protection inquiries.
  5. Regularly audit and update the platform dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Description
Alles rund um, über, aus & für Berlin
Key services
Mastodon social networking, Trending posts, Profiles directory
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.4.7, React, JavaScript ES Modules, SVG icons, CSS with integrity hashes
Frameworks
React
Platforms
Mastodon
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
50/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a Mastodon social network instance focused on Berlin community.
  2. Content is accessible and not blocked by WAF or security challenges.
  3. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found on the page.
  4. Privacy policy is present but cookie consent is missing.
  5. No terms of service or security policies explicitly found.
  6. No advertising or tracking scripts detected.
  7. WHOIS data is unavailable due to TLD limitations; domain appears privacy protected.
  8. Site uses modern web technologies and React framework.
  9. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack centered on Mastodon 4.4.7 and React, with modular JavaScript and SVG icons for UI elements. The site is mobile optimized and uses CSS with integrity hashes for security. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected. The absence of a CMS suggests a custom or platform-specific content management approach. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Accessibility features are basic but present. SEO optimization is minimal but includes meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical risks include missing security headers and lack of cookie consent mechanisms.
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. 66/100 −2Medium27 findingsView report
  2. 68/100Medium26 findingsView report
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