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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

57/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Browser-Update.org is an established open source initiative founded in 2008, providing a lightweight JavaScript tool to notify website visitors to update their browsers for improved security and performance. The project is widely adopted, with over 226,000 sites using its notification and more than 85 million visitors having updated their browsers as a result. The website offers multilingual support, customization options, and detailed documentation, positioning itself as a trusted resource in the web technology space. Technically, the website is well-structured, using modern HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with a minimal footprint (3kb script). It is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS and uses HTTPS, ensuring secure connections. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, though it lacks some advanced security headers and DNSSEC is not enabled. No tracking or analytics scripts are present, reflecting a strong privacy stance. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices by avoiding user tracking and personal data collection. However, it lacks explicit privacy and cookie policies, security incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure information, which are areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is consistent and trustworthy, with a long domain age and clear registrant information. Overall, Browser-Update.org is a reliable and professional resource with a strong reputation and technical foundation. Enhancing transparency around privacy, security policies, and incident response would further strengthen its security posture and user trust.

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 26 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

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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
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
57

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

Browser-Update.org occupies a niche in the web technology ecosystem by providing a free, open source browser update notification tool that benefits website owners and end users alike. Its competitive advantage lies in its unobtrusive, customizable notifications and broad browser and language support. The business model is community-driven and open source, relying on widespread adoption rather than direct monetization. The project has a strong partnership ecosystem with CMS platforms and JavaScript frameworks, as evidenced by numerous plugins and integrations. Growth indicators include a large user base and continuous updates to support new browser versions. Strategic observations suggest focusing on expanding enterprise adoption and formalizing security and privacy documentation to appeal to larger organizations.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, minimal attack surface due to lightweight scripts, and no user tracking. However, the absence of DNSSEC, security headers, and formal security policies indicates room for improvement. Lack of incident response contacts and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms could delay mitigation of potential security issues. Compliance with GDPR is implied by no personal data collection but not explicitly documented. Overall, the security culture appears responsible but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies to enhance transparency and GDPR compliance.
  3. Implement and document security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Provide explicit security incident response contacts and a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  5. Consider adding minimal analytics with privacy-respecting configurations to monitor usage and improve service.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
INWX GmbH
Description
Browser-Update.org is an initiative by websites to inform users to update their web browser. It provides a small JavaScript notification to alert visitors with outdated browsers to update for better security, speed, and experience.
Key services
Browser update notification script, Customization of notification messages and styles, Localization in multiple languages, Statistics and blog content
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

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

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No tracking scripts
  • Minimal script size (3kb)
  • No personal data collection

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
excellent

Advertising

Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website provides a useful open source tool for browser update notifications
  2. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found on main page
  3. Contact available only via contact page, no direct emails or phone numbers found
  4. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure documents found
  5. No social media links or company phone numbers detected
  6. Website is multilingual with extensive language support
  7. No tracking or analytics scripts detected
  8. Uses Cloudflare for DNS and hosting infrastructure
  9. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security gap
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a simple but effective technology stack centered on JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5, with no heavy frameworks detected. Hosting is via Cloudflare DNS and nameservers, providing reliable and fast delivery. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO basics such as meta tags and viewport settings. The script size is minimal (3kb), ensuring fast load times. However, the site lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC, which are recommended for modern web security. No CMS or backend platform is detected, indicating a static or custom-built site. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid, performant, and well-maintained with opportunities for security enhancements.
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. 57/100 −2Medium35 findingsView report
  2. 59/100 +2Medium33 findingsView report
  3. 57/100Medium32 findingsView report
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