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Security report for elementary.io

elementary, Inc. · Technology · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

elementary, Inc. operates elementary.io, a professional and well-established website promoting elementary OS, an open source, privacy-respecting alternative operating system to Windows and macOS. The company targets general computer users, developers, and privacy-conscious individuals with a pay-what-you-can business model for OS downloads and an app store for indie developers. The website is well-branded, consistent, and provides comprehensive information about the OS and its features, emphasizing ethical computing and user privacy. Technically, the website uses modern web technologies including JavaScript, jQuery, FontAwesome, and is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS. The site is fast, mobile-optimized, and accessible with good SEO practices. Analytics are implemented via plausible.io, a privacy-focused service, but no cookie consent mechanism is present. The site lacks explicit terms of service and published security or incident response policies. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and domain registration consistent and transparent. However, DNSSEC is not enabled and security headers are not explicitly detected. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. The site respects privacy principles and does not collect sensitive personal data beyond minimal analytics. Overall, elementary.io presents a trustworthy, professional, and secure online presence for elementary OS. Strategic improvements include adding cookie consent, publishing terms of service and security policies, and enabling DNSSEC to enhance domain security.

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. 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 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';…
  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. 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 elementary.io

This scan found 21 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
75
Security headers
55
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
72

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 elementary.io, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
50
Employees
0
Customers
50
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
16%

6 subdomains 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 elementary.io.

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

elementary, Inc. occupies a niche in the technology sector as a provider of an open source operating system focused on usability, privacy, and ethical software principles. Their business model relies on voluntary payments for OS downloads and app purchases via their curated AppCenter, supporting indie developers. The company has a medium-sized presence with a history dating back to 2013, supported by a consistent brand and community engagement. Partnerships include social media and community platforms but no explicit commercial partners were identified. The company leverages open source collaboration and transparency as competitive advantages and maintains a strong ethical stance in the market.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain registration transparency. The absence of DNSSEC and explicit security headers suggests room for improvement. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The site uses secure forms for payment processing but lacks published security policies or incident response contacts, which could impact user trust and compliance. Privacy practices are strong, with minimal tracking and no advertising data collection. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by formalizing policies and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and inform users about tracking.
  3. Publish clear terms of service and security policy pages to enhance transparency and legal compliance.
  4. Add security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), X-Frame-Options, and HSTS to strengthen web security.
  5. Establish and publish incident response contact information to improve security readiness and user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
elementary, Inc.
Description
elementary OS is a thoughtful, capable, and ethical replacement for Windows and macOS, offering a privacy-respecting, open source operating system with a curated app store and user-friendly design.
Key services
elementary OS operating system, AppCenter app store, Developer resources, Community involvement
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, jQuery, FontAwesome, Cloudflare DNS
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of payment form with hidden fields

Analytics and tracking

Services
plausible.io
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
plausible.io
Marketing tools
plausible.io
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional, well-designed open source OS project site
  2. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on main page
  3. Strong emphasis on privacy and ethical computing
  4. Use of pay-what-you-can model for OS downloads
  5. Multiple social media and community links present
  6. No cookie consent banner detected despite tracking script usage
  7. No explicit terms of service page found
  8. No explicit security or incident response policies published
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with modern web technologies including JavaScript, jQuery, and FontAwesome icons, and is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS servers, indicating reliable infrastructure. The site loads quickly and is optimized for mobile devices with responsive design. SEO is well implemented with comprehensive meta tags and Open Graph data. No CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. The use of plausible.io analytics reflects a privacy-conscious approach. Technical risks are minimal, but the absence of DNSSEC and security headers represents potential areas for technical debt and security enhancement.
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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