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Security report for grapheneos.org

Private by Design, LLC · Technology · United States

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

GrapheneOS is a non-profit open source project focused on developing a privacy and security oriented mobile operating system compatible with Android apps. Founded in 2014 and formerly known as CopperheadOS, it targets privacy-conscious users and developers seeking enhanced security features on mobile devices. The project emphasizes improvements in sandboxing, exploit mitigations, and permission models, delivering a hardened OS and related privacy-focused applications such as a hardened browser, PDF viewer, and camera app. The website serves as a hub for installation instructions, source code, and community engagement. Technically, the website is built with modern web standards including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript ES modules. It is well optimized for mobile devices, has good SEO practices, and provides a clean user experience with clear navigation. The site does not use common CMS platforms or third-party analytics and advertising tools, reflecting a privacy-first approach. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and no explicit security headers were detected in the provided data. From a security perspective, the domain registration is transparent and consistent with the business entity, with domain status protections in place. The website uses HTTPS and has no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, it lacks published privacy policies, cookie consent mechanisms, security policies, and incident response information, which are important for compliance and user trust. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files were found. Overall, GrapheneOS presents a trustworthy and professional presence aligned with its mission to provide a secure mobile OS. The main risks relate to missing formal privacy and security policy disclosures on the website. Strategic recommendations include publishing comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, and providing clear vulnerability disclosure and incident response information to enhance compliance and user confidence.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of grapheneos.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

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 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

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Keep watching grapheneos.org

This scan found 12 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
75
Security headers
90
Email security
100
DNS health
90
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
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

GrapheneOS occupies a niche market as a privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android compatibility, appealing to privacy-conscious users and developers. Its non-profit open source business model relies on community support and donations rather than commercial sales. The project demonstrates competitive advantages through its strong technical focus on security improvements and a transparent development process. The company maintains an active presence across multiple social and community platforms, fostering engagement and support. The absence of advertising and tracking aligns with its privacy ethos. Growth indicators include ongoing releases, active community forums, and continuous development of security-focused apps. The partnership ecosystem is primarily community-driven with no commercial partners explicitly identified. Overall, the business operates with a clear mission and consistent branding, maintaining credibility in the technology and privacy sectors.

Security posture

GrapheneOS exhibits a mature security posture with a focus on hardened OS development and privacy enhancements. The domain registration is transparent and protected against unauthorized transfers or deletions. The website uses HTTPS and enforces domain status protections. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers represents minor gaps. The lack of published security policies, incident response plans, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms limits transparency and user assurance. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The project’s open source nature and community engagement contribute positively to security culture. Compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations is unclear due to missing policy disclosures. Enhancing formal security documentation and enabling DNSSEC would strengthen the overall security posture.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Implement DNSSEC to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  3. Add standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Provide a publicly accessible vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file.
  5. Publish incident response and security contact information to improve transparency and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Private by Design, LLC
Description
GrapheneOS is a privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility developed as a non-profit open source project. It focuses on research and development of privacy and security technology including improvements to sandboxing, exploit mitigations, and the permission model. It was founded in 2014 and was formerly known as CopperheadOS.
Key services
Mobile operating system development, Security and privacy technology research, Development of hardened apps (browser, PDF viewer, camera, auditor), Provision of installation and build instructions, Community engagement via forums and social platforms
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript ES Modules, Open Graph metadata, Web Manifest
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by canonical URL https://grapheneos.org/)
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited

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 a non-profit open source project focused on mobile OS privacy and security.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found on the main page.
  3. No forms detected on the main page; contact form likely on /contact page.
  4. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  5. Social media presence is strong with multiple platforms linked.
  6. No advertising or tracking scripts detected.
  7. No analytics services detected in the HTML content.
  8. Website uses modern web standards and is mobile optimized.
  9. No DNSSEC enabled which is a minor security gap.
  10. WHOIS data is transparent and consistent with website claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript ES modules, ensuring good performance and mobile optimization. The presence of Open Graph metadata and a web manifest indicates attention to SEO and progressive web app capabilities. No CMS or third-party analytics/tracking tools were detected, aligning with privacy goals. The site uses custom DNS name servers but lacks DNSSEC, which is a technical risk. The website loads quickly and provides a clear navigation structure. Technical debt appears low with no broken elements or errors observed. Opportunities for modernization include enabling DNSSEC and adding security headers. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business mission effectively with minimal risks.
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. 75/100Medium20 findingsView report
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