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Security report for getpelican.com

Pelican · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

51/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Pelican is an established open source static site generator project founded in 2012, focused on providing a Python-based tool for generating static websites without server-side logic. The website serves a developer and technical audience, offering documentation, blog content, and community engagement through GitHub and Fediverse social links. The business model is community-driven with support via donations and contributions. Technically, the site is well designed with modern responsive layouts, uses efficient image formats, and supports multiple content formats and plugins. Security posture is moderate; while the domain registration is stable and transparent, the site lacks visible security headers, DNSSEC, and published privacy or cookie policies. No forms or analytics scripts were detected, indicating minimal data collection and tracking. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and safe for general audiences.

Scanned

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

7 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 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

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

Keep watching getpelican.com

This scan found 25 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
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  • 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
50
Average
51

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

Pelican occupies a niche in the static site generator market, leveraging Python's popularity among developers. Its competitive advantage lies in its extensibility, multi-language support, and integration capabilities. Revenue is likely indirect, via donations and community support. The target customers are developers and technical content creators seeking a lightweight, database-free site generator. The project maintains a strong open source presence on GitHub and social media, fostering community contributions. Partnerships include hosting and podcast sponsorships. Growth indicators include active documentation and community engagement. Strategic observations suggest focusing on enhancing security and privacy transparency to increase trust and adoption.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. The domain is registered with appropriate protections against unauthorized transfers and deletions, but DNSSEC is not enabled. The site uses HTTPS (implied by URLs) but lacks visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or Strict-Transport-Security in the provided data. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are published. No forms or user input points reduce attack surface. Privacy compliance is weak due to absence of privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the security posture is adequate for an informational open source project site but could be improved by implementing security headers, DNSSEC, and publishing security and privacy policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR compliance and user trust.
  3. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Provide explicit contact information for security incidents, including a security or abuse email address.
  5. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Pelican
Description
Pelican is a static site generator that requires no database or server-side logic. It supports content in reStructuredText or Markdown, chronological content, multiple languages, themes, plugins, and integration with external services.
Key services
Static site generation, Content management via Markdown/reStructuredText, Multi-language publication, Plugin ecosystem, Integration with external services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Python, Jinja2, Pygments, Markdown, reStructuredText
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-maintained open source project site.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the main page.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly provided.
  4. No forms detected on the main page.
  5. No analytics or tracking scripts detected.
  6. No security headers visible in provided data.
  7. No DNSSEC enabled on domain.
  8. Site uses modern image formats (webp, jxl) and responsive design.
  9. Strong branding consistency and professional design.
  10. No advertising or affiliate marketing detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using a modern static site generator technology stack centered on Python and Jinja2 templates, with content authored in Markdown and reStructuredText. The site uses modern image formats (webp, jxl) for performance optimization and is mobile responsive with good accessibility features. The domain is registered with Porkbun LLC and has a long registration period with protective domain status flags. No CMS or dynamic backend is detected, reducing attack surface and complexity. Hosting provider details are not explicit but likely stable. No analytics or tracking scripts were found, indicating minimal technical overhead and privacy-friendly design. The site is well structured with clear navigation and professional branding. Technical risks are low but could be further mitigated by adding DNSSEC and security headers.
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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