Skip to main content

Security report for fosdem.org

FOSDEM VZW · Technology · Belgium

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

FOSDEM is a well-established non-profit organization hosting an annual free event for software developers focused on open source technologies. The event attracts thousands of participants globally and is supported by major technology sponsors such as Google and Red Hat. The website provides comprehensive event information, schedules, and resources including live streams and video archives, targeting developers and open source enthusiasts. Technically, the website is built using the nanoc static site generator, delivering fast performance with good SEO and mobile optimization. The site lacks advanced frameworks or dynamic content management systems, favoring simplicity and reliability. However, there is room for improvement in accessibility and security headers implementation. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and has domain transfer protections but lacks DNSSEC and security headers. No privacy or cookie policies are published, indicating compliance gaps with GDPR and related regulations. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided, which could be improved to enhance trust and security posture. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and content-rich but would benefit from enhanced privacy compliance and security practices to reduce risk and improve user trust.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of fosdem.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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

    • 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

  2. 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

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 29 days

      What to do: Renew SSL certificate before expiration

      • NIS2 21(2)(h)
      • IR 2024/2690 9.2(c): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 9.2(c): Cryptography
      • NIST SC-17: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-17: Public Key Infrastructure Certificates

  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 fosdem.org

This scan found 18 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
80
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
50
Average
63

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

FOSDEM holds a strong market position as a leading European open source developer conference, operating on a non-profit model supported by sponsorships from major technology companies. Its business model focuses on community engagement and free access, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among developers. The event's growth and longevity since 2001 demonstrate strong brand recognition and a loyal audience. Partnerships with industry leaders enhance credibility and resource availability. The organization maintains a lean operational structure with a medium-sized footprint, focusing on event execution and volunteer coordination.

Security posture

The current security posture is moderate. The use of HTTPS and domain transfer lock are positive indicators. However, the absence of DNSSEC, security headers, and published security policies reduces the overall security maturity. Lack of privacy and cookie policies indicates potential GDPR compliance issues. No incident response contacts or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are present, limiting transparency and responsiveness to security events. The site does not appear to use tracking or advertising scripts, which reduces privacy risks. Overall, the security culture appears basic and could be enhanced with formal policies and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear GDPR compliance and consent mechanisms.
  4. Establish and publish incident response and vulnerability disclosure contacts to improve transparency and security readiness.
  5. Conduct accessibility audits and improve features to ensure compliance with accessibility standards and enhance user experience.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
FOSDEM VZW
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
FOSDEM VZW
Description
FOSDEM is a free event for software developers to meet, share ideas and collaborate. It gathers thousands of developers of free and open source software annually in Brussels. No registration is required.
Key services
Event hosting, Developer talks and lectures, Volunteer coordination, Live streaming and video archives
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
nanoc (static site generator), CSS, HTML5
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • HTTPS implied by URL (https://fosdem.org/2025/)

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content about FOSDEM 2025 event.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies found, indicating potential compliance gaps.
  3. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts published.
  4. WHOIS data is transparent and consistent with the event's identity.
  5. Sponsors include major reputable technology companies.
  6. No tracking or advertising scripts detected, indicating privacy-conscious design.
  7. Content is safe and appropriate for general audiences.
  8. Technical implementation uses a static site generator nanoc, with good SEO and mobile optimization.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a static site generator (nanoc) which provides fast loading times and simplicity in maintenance. The tech stack is minimal, relying on HTML and CSS without heavy JavaScript frameworks, which benefits performance and security. SEO is well addressed with meta tags and Open Graph data. Mobile optimization is good but accessibility features are basic and could be improved. Hosting details are inferred from DNS records but not explicitly stated. The site lacks advanced analytics or tracking technologies, indicating a privacy-conscious approach but also limiting marketing insights.
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. 60/100Medium30 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with fosdem.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review fosdem.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.