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Security report for browser-update.org

INWX GmbH · Technology · Germany

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

59/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Browser-Update.org is an established open source initiative founded in 2008 that provides a lightweight, customizable JavaScript tool to notify website visitors to update their web browsers. The service is widely adopted, with over 226,000 sites using its notification system, and it supports multiple languages and browsers. The website is professionally designed with clear navigation and a focus on user privacy, avoiding tracking or personal data collection. The technical infrastructure is modern and performant, leveraging Cloudflare for DNS and delivering a fast, mobile-optimized experience. Security posture is solid with domain protections in place, though there is room for improvement in publishing explicit security policies and enabling DNSSEC. Overall, the site demonstrates high trustworthiness and business credibility within the technology sector.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of browser-update.org. View the latest report

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

9 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 browser-update.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.

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  • 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
40
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
59

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 browser-update.org, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for browser-update.org 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

The project targets webmasters and website owners who want to improve user security and experience by encouraging browser updates. Its open source MIT license and extensive plugin ecosystem for popular CMS and frameworks indicate a strong community and integration focus. The business model revolves around providing a free, easy-to-implement tool that benefits the broader web ecosystem by reducing security risks associated with outdated browsers. The domain's long registration history and consistent WHOIS data support its legitimacy. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers suggests a lean operation focused on digital engagement via the website and contact form.

Security posture

The website employs best practices such as clientTransferProhibited domain status and uses Cloudflare DNS, enhancing resilience against domain hijacking and DNS attacks. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which could improve DNS security. No security headers were detected in the HTML content, and no explicit security or incident response policies are published, which are areas for enhancement. The site respects user privacy by not tracking visitors or collecting personal data, aligning with GDPR principles despite lacking a formal privacy policy. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from formalized policies and additional technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy to improve compliance and user trust.
  3. Implement and document security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Develop and publish an incident response policy and provide dedicated security contact channels.
  5. Consider adding direct contact emails or phone numbers for business and security inquiries to enhance transparency.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
INWX GmbH
Description
Browser-update.org is a tool to unobtrusively notify visitors that they should update their web browser in order to use your website.
Key services
Browser update notification script, Customizable notification messages, Localization in multiple languages, Statistics and browser usage data
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • No tracking or personal data collection
  • Notification script is lightweight and unobtrusive
  • Domain status includes clientTransferProhibited and autoRenewPeriod

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website provides a widely used open source tool for browser update notifications.
  2. Content is technical, well-structured, and multilingual.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy found, which is a minor compliance gap.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact is via a contact page.
  5. No security.txt or explicit security policies published.
  6. No tracking or analytics scripts detected, respecting user privacy.
  7. No advertising or affiliate marketing detected.
  8. Website is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS but no WAF challenge detected.
  9. WHOIS data is consistent and domain is mature.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a simple but effective tech stack primarily based on JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5, with no heavy frameworks detected. It is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS, which provides reliable DNS resolution and potential CDN benefits. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and multilingual support. The absence of analytics or tracking scripts indicates a privacy-first approach. Performance is fast due to lightweight scripts and minimal external dependencies. There is no detected CMS, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. Overall, the technical implementation is modern, efficient, and well-suited to the site's purpose.
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. 57/100Medium35 findingsView report
  2. 57/100Medium35 findingsView report
  3. 57/100Medium32 findingsView report
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