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Security report for fosstodon.org

Fosstodon · Technology · Iceland

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Fosstodon.org operates as an invite-only Mastodon instance catering to technology enthusiasts, particularly those interested in free and open source software. The platform provides a niche social networking service within the fediverse, emphasizing community engagement and content relevant to technology and open source topics. The website demonstrates a consistent brand and good content quality, with an active user base of approximately 8.8K monthly active users. Technically, Fosstodon leverages the Mastodon platform built on Ruby on Rails and modern JavaScript frameworks, delivering a mobile-optimized and moderately performant experience. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and domain transfer protections, though improvements such as enabling DNSSEC and adding security headers are recommended. Privacy compliance is basic, with a privacy policy present but lacking cookie consent mechanisms and terms of service. Overall, Fosstodon presents as a credible and trustworthy community platform with room for enhanced security and compliance maturity.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of fosstodon.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

3 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 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

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching fosstodon.org

This scan found 22 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
72
Security headers
75
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
75

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

Fosstodon targets a specialized segment within the social networking market, focusing on free and open source software communities. Its invite-only model fosters exclusivity and community quality, positioning it as a niche player in the fediverse ecosystem. The business model centers on community-driven engagement without evident monetization or advertising, aligning with open source values. The platform benefits from partnerships with Mastodon and related open source projects, enhancing its credibility. Growth indicators include a stable user base and active content streams. Strategic observations suggest opportunities to improve compliance and security posture to strengthen trust and broaden appeal.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and domain transfer lock status, which are foundational security measures. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options indicates potential vulnerabilities to DNS spoofing and clickjacking attacks. No incident response or security policy information is publicly available, which may hinder transparency and readiness. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analysis. The platform's security posture is moderate but would benefit from implementing additional best practices and public security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain integrity.
  2. Implement and publish security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Develop and make publicly accessible a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan.
  4. Add cookie consent mechanisms to comply with privacy regulations and improve user trust.
  5. Publish terms of service to clarify user rights and platform policies.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Fosstodon
Description
Fosstodon is an invite only Mastodon instance that is open to those who are interested in technology; particularly free & open source software. If you wish to join, contact us for an invite.
Key services
Mastodon social networking, Invite-only community access, Profile directory
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon, Ruby on Rails, React, JavaScript ES Modules, CloudNS DNS, NameCheap Registrar
Frameworks
Mastodon, Rails
Platforms
Fediverse
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

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 an invite-only Mastodon instance focused on free and open source software and technology.
  2. Content is rich with active user posts and community engagement.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent mechanisms detected, which may be a compliance gap.
  4. No visible contact emails or phone numbers on the page.
  5. No terms of service page found, which is uncommon for social platforms.
  6. Uses modern web technologies and modules with good mobile optimization.
  7. No advertising or tracking scripts detected, indicating privacy-conscious design.
  8. WHOIS data shows privacy protection but domain age and status indicate legitimacy.
Technical notes

Notes

Fosstodon.org is built on the Mastodon platform using Ruby on Rails and modern JavaScript modules, including React components. The site loads multiple asynchronously loaded scripts and stylesheets with integrity attributes, indicating attention to security in resource loading. The hosting environment uses CloudNS for DNS and NameCheap as the registrar with privacy protection enabled. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is basic with appropriate meta tags and Open Graph data. The site lacks advanced analytics or tracking scripts, reflecting a privacy-conscious approach. Technical risks include missing DNSSEC and security headers, which should be addressed to mitigate potential attack vectors.
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. 75/100Medium30 findingsView report
  2. 75/100 −3Medium30 findingsView report
  3. 78/100Low24 findingsView report
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