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Security report for dju.social

ver.di - Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft · Media · Germany

High risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

48/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The website dju.social is a Mastodon-based decentralized social network instance operated by the German trade union ver.di, specifically its Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union (dju) division. It provides a platform for media professionals and interested parties to engage in friendly and constructive social exchange. The platform leverages the open-source Mastodon software (version 4.2.17) and offers features such as user profiles, content discovery, and hashtag exploration. The domain registration is consistent with the organization's identity and country, indicating legitimacy and trustworthiness. Technically, the site uses modern web technologies including React and WebSockets, with a moderate performance profile and good mobile optimization. However, some security best practices such as enabling DNSSEC and implementing security headers are missing. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism detected. Contact information and security policies are not explicitly provided on the explored page. The security posture is generally good with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protection enabled, but improvements are recommended to enhance DNS security and security headers. The content is safe for general audiences, focusing on media and journalism without any adult or explicit content. Overall, the site is professionally designed, trustworthy, and serves a niche community effectively.

Scanned

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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. 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

  3. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Weak SPF Policy

      SPF record has permissive policy allowing any server to send email

      What to do: Use -all or ~all qualifier for better email security

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

Keep watching dju.social

This scan found 20 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
0
Security headers
75
Email security
55
DNS health
65
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
48

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

dju.social operates as a niche social network platform targeting German journalists and media professionals, leveraging the Mastodon decentralized social network ecosystem. Its business model centers on community engagement and providing a safe space for constructive dialogue. The platform benefits from the backing of ver.di, a large German trade union, which lends credibility and organizational support. The site has a small but active user base (276 active profiles) and integrates with the broader Mastodon federation, enhancing its reach. The absence of commercial advertising and tracking suggests a focus on privacy and user experience. Strategic partnerships or subsidiaries are not evident, indicating a focused operational scope. Growth potential lies in expanding the user base within the media sector and enhancing platform features.

Security posture

The security maturity of dju.social is moderate to good. HTTPS is properly implemented, and the domain is protected against unauthorized transfers. However, the lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represent areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism or explicit incident response contacts. The absence of a published security policy or vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency. Overall, the platform demonstrates a reasonable security posture suitable for its community use case but should address identified gaps to strengthen defenses and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options) to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  4. Publish explicit security policies and incident response contact information to improve trust and readiness.
  5. Consider adding contact information or a contact form for user support and inquiries.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ver.di - Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft
Description
Die Deutsche Journalistinnen- und Journalisten-Union (dju) in ver.di bietet hier einen Raum für Medienmenschen und alle, die an einem freundlichen und konstruktiven Austausch interessiert sind.
Key services
Decentralized social networking, User profiles, Content sharing and discovery, Hashtag and link exploration
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.2.17, JavaScript, React, FontAwesome, WebSockets (wss://dju.social), CSS
Frameworks
Mastodon, React
Platforms
Mastodon social network platform
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of WebSocket secure connection

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
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a Mastodon social network instance focused on German journalists and media professionals.
  2. Content is in German and oriented towards constructive social exchange.
  3. No signs of malicious content or phishing.
  4. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found on the explored page.
  5. No cookie consent banner detected despite GDPR relevance.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and open source Mastodon platform.
  7. WHOIS data aligns well with website claims, indicating legitimacy.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Mastodon open-source social networking platform, version 4.2.17, utilizing React for frontend rendering and WebSockets for real-time communication. The site loads multiple CSS and JS chunks with integrity hashes, indicating attention to resource integrity. The hosting is managed via Key-Systems, LLC as registrar, with DNS servers at kasserver.com. The site is mobile optimized and uses modern web standards. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected. Accessibility is basic but present. SEO is basic with meta tags and Open Graph data included. No CMS is detected beyond the Mastodon platform itself. The technical stack is modern and appropriate for the site's purpose, though some security enhancements 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

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