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Security report for bestofosm.org

Geofabrik GmbH · Technology · Germany

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website 'Best of OpenStreetMap' is a niche platform curated by Geofabrik GmbH, showcasing exemplary mapping projects and interesting places within the OpenStreetMap ecosystem. It targets GIS professionals, map enthusiasts, and the OpenStreetMap community by providing curated map examples and downloadable KML data. The site positions itself as a specialized resource within the mapping technology sector, with a small company footprint based in Germany. Technically, the site employs OpenLayers for map rendering and an outdated version of jQuery, indicating a legacy technology stack. The presence of multiple broken map tile images suggests some maintenance or configuration issues affecting user experience. The site lacks modern CMS indicators and does not appear to use advanced hosting or performance optimization techniques. Mobile optimization and accessibility are basic, with room for improvement. From a security perspective, no HTTPS or security headers information was available, and the site lacks privacy and cookie policies, which are critical for compliance and user trust. The WHOIS data is malformed or protected, limiting domain trust analysis, but the association with Geofabrik GmbH and OpenStreetMap contributors supports legitimacy. No signs of malware, phishing, or adult content were detected, and no advanced security frameworks or incident response contacts are present. Overall, the website is functional and relevant to its audience but requires technical and security enhancements to improve user experience, compliance, and trustworthiness. Strategic recommendations include updating the technology stack, fixing broken map tiles, implementing HTTPS and security headers, and publishing privacy and cookie policies.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 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

8 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. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

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

Keep watching bestofosm.org

This scan found 24 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

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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
65
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
50
Average
52

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

Geofabrik GmbH operates this site as a specialized service within the OpenStreetMap community, focusing on showcasing high-quality mapping examples. The business model appears to be informational and community-driven rather than commercial. The company leverages its expertise in geographic data and mapping technology to maintain a niche presence. The lack of direct contact emails or phone numbers on the site suggests a low-touch engagement model, relying on a contact form hosted on the parent company's domain. The partnership ecosystem includes OpenStreetMap contributors and related mapping data providers. Growth indicators are not evident from the site content, and no revenue streams or monetization strategies are visible. The site serves as a trust-building and brand-enhancing tool for Geofabrik GmbH within the GIS sector.

Security posture

The website exhibits a low to moderate security maturity level. Key gaps include the absence of visible HTTPS enforcement and security headers, outdated JavaScript libraries, and missing privacy and cookie policies. The broken map tile images may indicate configuration or hosting issues that could affect availability and user trust. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are present, limiting the site's readiness for security events. Compliance with GDPR or other data protection regulations is not demonstrated. The lack of contact emails for security or abuse reporting further reduces the security posture. Overall, the site would benefit from adopting modern security best practices, updating dependencies, and enhancing transparency around data protection.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTPS across the entire website to secure data transmission and improve trust.
  2. Fix broken map tile URLs and ensure map resources load correctly to enhance user experience.
  3. Update jQuery and other JavaScript libraries to current, secure versions to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  4. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to comply with GDPR and inform users.
  5. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  6. Establish a vulnerability disclosure policy and provide security contact information.
  7. Improve mobile optimization and accessibility to broaden audience reach and compliance.
  8. Regularly audit and monitor website security posture and update technical infrastructure.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Geofabrik GmbH
Description
Examples of excellent mapping and other interesting places in OpenStreetMap.
Key services
Curated map examples, KML data downloads, Mapping information
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
OpenLayers, jQuery 1.3.2
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
40/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website provides curated examples of OpenStreetMap data and maps.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the site.
  3. WHOIS data is unavailable or protected, limiting domain trust analysis.
  4. Site uses outdated jQuery version and has broken map tile images.
  5. No HTTPS or security headers information available from provided data.
  6. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed; contact form link provided.
  7. No advertising or tracking technologies detected.
  8. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses OpenLayers for interactive map rendering and an outdated jQuery 1.3.2 library, indicating legacy technology usage. The HTML structure is basic with minimal SEO optimization and no detected CMS. External resources are loaded from static.geofabrik.de and other related domains. Multiple map tile images fail to load, suggesting issues with tile server URLs or availability. The site lacks modern performance optimizations and accessibility features. No advanced frameworks or platforms are detected. Hosting provider details are not discernible from the content. Overall, the technical implementation is functional but dated, with opportunities for modernization and performance improvements.
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

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