Skip to main content

Security report for ipfs.io

IPFS Foundation · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The IPFS.io Public Gateway website serves as a critical public utility enabling users to access decentralized web content via the IPFS protocol without requiring specialized software. Maintained by Interplanetary Shipyard on behalf of the IPFS Foundation, it positions itself as a free, open, and reliable bridge between traditional HTTP and IPFS networks. The site provides comprehensive information about the gateway's purpose, acceptable use policies, abuse reporting mechanisms, and technical FAQs, targeting a broad audience interested in decentralized web technologies. Technically, the website is built using the Hugo static site generator and leverages modern web standards with good mobile optimization and SEO practices. The gateway itself uses the Rainbow implementation of the IPFS HTTP Gateway API, with implied Cloudflare CDN usage for content delivery. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and content verification mechanisms in place, though explicit security headers and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms could be improved. From a security and compliance perspective, the site offers clear abuse reporting channels and takedown policies, but lacks explicit privacy and cookie policies, which impacts privacy compliance scoring. No adult or questionable content is present, and the site maintains a trustworthy and professional appearance aligned with the IPFS community ethos. WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy protection, but the domain and website content align with legitimate public infrastructure projects. Overall, the IPFS.io Public Gateway website demonstrates a mature technical infrastructure, solid security practices, and a clear mission as a public good in the decentralized web ecosystem. Strategic improvements in privacy transparency and security header implementation would further enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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 ipfs.io

This scan found 20 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. See sample alerts.

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
95
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
69

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 IPFS.io Public Gateway is positioned as a key public utility within the decentralized web ecosystem, maintained by Interplanetary Shipyard for the IPFS Foundation. Its business model relies on donor funding to support digital public infrastructure rather than commercial revenue streams. The gateway serves a broad user base interested in accessing IPFS content seamlessly via HTTP. Competitive advantages include its affiliation with the IPFS Foundation, open-source technology use, and a clear abuse reporting and takedown process. The partnership ecosystem includes IPFS Foundation and IPShipyard, with references to Filecoin community channels. Growth indicators include active community engagement and ongoing maintenance. The website content and external links reflect a strong alignment with decentralized web technologies and open collaboration.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and implements content verification against requested CIDs, supporting trustless content retrieval. Abuse reporting is clearly defined with dedicated email and web form channels, and takedown policies are transparent. However, the absence of explicit security headers (e.g., CSP, HSTS) and lack of a security.txt file limit the security maturity level. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Privacy compliance is limited due to missing privacy and cookie policies. Incident response readiness is supported by clear abuse contacts. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from enhanced header policies and formal vulnerability disclosure mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish comprehensive security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, and X-Frame-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a detailed privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance statements to improve transparency and legal compliance.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and improve security communication.
  4. Consider implementing a cookie consent mechanism if cookies or tracking technologies are used in the future.
  5. Maintain and promote abuse reporting channels while monitoring for emerging security threats and compliance requirements.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
IPFS Foundation
Description
The IPFS.io Public Gateway is a free public service enabling users to access IPFS content through web browsers, bridging HTTP and the decentralized IPFS protocol without requiring software installation.
Key services
IPFS content retrieval via HTTP gateway, Public access to decentralized web content, Abuse reporting and content takedown
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Hugo 0.124.1, Rainbow (IPFS HTTP Gateway API implementation), JavaScript, CSS
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Abuse reporting and takedown policy
  • Content verification against CID
  • Trustless content retrieval support

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 IPFS public gateway.
  2. No WHOIS data available due to malformed request or privacy protection.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy explicitly found on the site.
  4. Clear abuse reporting mechanism with dedicated email and web form.
  5. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  6. No advertising or tracking technologies detected.
  7. Good technical implementation with modern static site generator Hugo.
  8. Security posture is good but could improve with explicit security headers and vulnerability disclosure.
  9. Strong alignment with decentralized web technology community and open source ethos.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Hugo static site generator, ensuring fast performance and good mobile responsiveness. It uses modern web technologies including JavaScript and CSS, with an implied Cloudflare CDN for content delivery. The IPFS gateway backend uses the Rainbow implementation of the IPFS HTTP Gateway API. The site is well-structured with proper meta tags for SEO and social media integration via Open Graph and Twitter cards. No CMS vulnerabilities or outdated libraries were detected. The technical infrastructure supports scalability and reliability for public gateway services. Opportunities exist to enhance security headers and formalize vulnerability disclosure processes to reduce technical 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. 68/100 +5Medium30 findingsView report
  2. 63/100Medium27 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with ipfs.io. 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 ipfs.io.

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.