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Security report for freebsdfoundation.org

FreeBSD Foundation · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

59/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The FreeBSD Foundation is a well-established non-profit organization founded in 2001, dedicated to supporting and advancing the FreeBSD open source operating system. The foundation operates primarily in the technology sector, providing funding, infrastructure support, education, advocacy, and community engagement services. Their website reflects a professional and trustworthy presence with comprehensive content targeting FreeBSD users, contributors, donors, and the broader open source community. The organization maintains a strong market position as a key supporter of FreeBSD, with clear calls to action for donations and involvement. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using modern tools such as Elementor, jQuery, and Google reCAPTCHA for security. It employs Plausible Analytics for privacy-conscious user tracking and integrates Mailchimp for mailing list management. The site is mobile-optimized with good SEO practices, though accessibility features could be improved. Hosting details are partially known, with domain registration through Gandi SAS and no DNSSEC enabled. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses reCAPTCHA to protect forms, with no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, it lacks advanced security headers and a publicly available security policy or incident response plan. The WHOIS data is consistent with the organization's identity and history, supporting the site's legitimacy. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy, though no cookie consent mechanism is detected. Overall, the FreeBSD Foundation website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, security, and compliance suitable for a non-profit technology organization. Strategic improvements in security policy transparency, DNSSEC implementation, and accessibility would further enhance trust and resilience.

Scanned

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

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

5 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 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';…

  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

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

Keep watching freebsdfoundation.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
85
Security headers
20
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
59

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

The FreeBSD Foundation occupies a niche but critical role in the open source ecosystem, focusing on the FreeBSD operating system. Its business model relies on donations, grants, and partnerships with technology companies such as Intel, ARM, Juniper Networks, and NetApp. The foundation's target customers include developers, enterprises using FreeBSD, and the open source community. The presence of a Shopify-based merchandise store indicates diversified revenue streams. The foundation's partnerships and donor list reflect strong industry support, enhancing its competitive advantage. Growth indicators include active event sponsorships, travel grants, and ongoing project funding. The foundation's strategic positioning as a trusted steward of FreeBSD technology underpins its market relevance and sustainability.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, form protection via Google reCAPTCHA, and no apparent exposure of sensitive information. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents areas for improvement. There is no public security policy or incident response information, which could hinder transparency and preparedness. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file is present, limiting external reporting channels. Overall, the security measures are adequate for the site's purpose but could be enhanced to align with best practices and compliance frameworks.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish a formal security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  3. Add essential security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Create and maintain a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Enhance website accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user inclusivity.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
FreeBSD Foundation
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
FreeBSD Foundation
Description
A non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and building the FreeBSD Project
Key services
Project funding and grants, Infrastructure support, Education and advocacy, Events and conferences, Publishing FreeBSD Journal
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Elementor, jQuery, Google reCAPTCHA v2, SlickNav, WonderPlugin Lightbox, Mailchimp (for mailing list), Plausible Analytics
Frameworks
Elementor (WordPress page builder)
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA v2 on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Plausible Analytics
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Plausible Analytics
Marketing tools
Mailchimp
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well maintained
  2. Content is rich and relevant to the FreeBSD open source community
  3. Clear navigation with comprehensive menu structure
  4. Multiple calls to action for donations and involvement
  5. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity
  7. Social media presence across major platforms
  8. No cookie consent banner detected despite use of analytics
  9. No explicit security policy or incident response information publicly available
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a robust WordPress CMS platform enhanced with Elementor for page building, jQuery for scripting, and various plugins for functionality such as lightbox galleries and contact forms. It uses Plausible Analytics, a privacy-focused analytics tool, and integrates Google reCAPTCHA v2 for bot protection. The site loads external fonts from Google Fonts and uses SlickNav for responsive navigation menus. Performance is moderate with room for optimization, especially in lazy loading and caching strategies. The site is mobile responsive and SEO optimized with proper meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). Hosting details are limited but domain registration is through a reputable registrar, Gandi SAS. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern and well maintained with opportunities for further performance and 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. 58/100Medium32 findingsView report
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