Skip to main content

Security report for berlin.social

Cepharum GmbH · Technology · Germany

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

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

berlin.social is an independent Mastodon social networking instance operated by Cepharum GmbH, targeting users interested in Berlin-related content and the broader fediverse community. The platform offers microblogging and federated social networking services leveraging the open source Mastodon software. The website is professionally designed with good content relevance and user experience, focusing on community engagement and local topics. Technically, the site uses a modern tech stack including React.js and Mastodon 4.3.9, hosted on company-controlled infrastructure. Security posture is moderate with some best practices like domain transfer protection but lacks DNSSEC and security headers. Privacy compliance is basic with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism. Business credibility is supported by consistent WHOIS data and transparent ownership. Overall, the site is functional, trustworthy, and serves its niche well.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of berlin.social. View the latest report

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

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

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

Keep watching berlin.social

This scan found 18 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. See sample alerts.

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
75
Security headers
75
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
68

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 business operates as a small technology entity providing a federated social media platform focused on Berlin. It leverages the Mastodon open source ecosystem, positioning itself as a community-centric alternative to mainstream social networks. Revenue streams are not explicit but likely based on community support or donations. The target audience includes local residents, activists, and Mastodon users. The company maintains control over hosting and domain registration, indicating operational independence. Partnerships or subsidiaries are not evident. The platform's growth is indicated by active user statistics and content engagement. Strategic observations suggest a focus on privacy-respecting social networking and community building within the fediverse.

Security posture

The security maturity level is moderate. The domain uses clientTransferProhibited status to prevent unauthorized transfers, but DNSSEC is not enabled, which could improve DNS security. No security headers (CSP, HSTS, etc.) were detected in the provided content, which are recommended to mitigate common web attacks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were identified. The absence of a security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. Privacy compliance is partial, lacking cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the platform appears secure for typical social networking use but could enhance defenses and compliance to reduce risk and improve user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to improve domain name system security.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations.
  4. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and SEO optimization for broader reach and compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Cepharum GmbH
Description
Alles rund um, über, aus & für Berlin
Key services
Social networking, Microblogging, Federated communication
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.3.9, React.js, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
Mastodon (Ruby on Rails backend, React frontend)
Platforms
Fediverse, Mastodon
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

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 publicly accessible and not blocked by WAF
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent mechanisms detected
  4. WHOIS data is consistent with website ownership and hosting
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the page
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information present
  7. Site uses modern web technologies and open source Mastodon platform
  8. No advertising or tracking scripts detected in the provided content
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Mastodon platform version 4.3.9, using React.js for frontend rendering and standard web technologies (HTML5, CSS, JavaScript). Hosting is managed by Cepharum GmbH, with dedicated nameservers indicating control over infrastructure. Performance is moderate with preloading and chunked JS/CSS assets. Mobile optimization is good, and the site is responsive. No CMS detected beyond Mastodon’s own platform. SEO is basic with meta tags and Open Graph data present but no advanced structured data like JSON-LD for business or organization. No analytics or tracking scripts were found, indicating minimal user tracking. Technical debt appears low, but security enhancements and privacy compliance improvements are recommended.
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. 70/100 +4Medium24 findingsView report
  2. 66/100Medium27 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with berlin.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 berlin.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.