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Security report for itsfoss.com

It's FOSS · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

It's FOSS is a well-established online platform dedicated to educating and empowering Linux users and open source enthusiasts. Founded in 2012, it offers a variety of content including tutorials, news, quizzes, and community engagement through forums and newsletters. The business model centers around content publishing with membership and subscription options, targeting a niche but dedicated audience in the technology sector. The website maintains a consistent brand presence and provides quality content relevant to its audience.

Scanned

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

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 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

  3. 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

  4. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Weak SPF Policy

      SPF record has permissive policy allowing any server to send email

      What to do: Use -all or ~all qualifier for better email security

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

Keep watching itsfoss.com

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

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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
55
Email security
80
DNS health
75
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
58
Average
63

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 website holds a strong position within the Linux and open source community, leveraging partnerships with related domains and maintaining active social media channels. Its revenue streams likely include memberships and newsletter subscriptions. The platform uses modern CMS technology (Ghost) and integrates marketing and analytics tools to support growth and user engagement. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers suggests a primarily digital-first customer interaction model.

Security posture

The site benefits from HTTPS encryption and domain security measures such as clientTransferProhibited status. However, it lacks advanced security headers and does not publish a formal security policy or incident response plan. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is partially addressed with policies present but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the security posture is moderate with room for improvement in transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance domain name system security.
  2. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  4. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response information to build trust and preparedness.
  5. Consider adding direct company contact information to improve business credibility and user support.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
It's FOSS
Description
Making You a Better Linux User
Key services
Linux tutorials, Open source news, Quizzes and puzzles, Newsletter subscription, Community forums
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Ghost CMS, JavaScript, Google Analytics, Contextly, Stripe
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • clientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Umami Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Umami Analytics
Marketing tools
Contextly, Ghost Portal
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is focused on Linux and open source software education.
  3. Uses modern CMS (Ghost) and integrates common analytics and marketing tools.
  4. No explicit security policy or incident response information found.
  5. Privacy and cookie policies are present but cookie consent mechanism is missing.
  6. No direct company contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via form only.
  7. Domain WHOIS data is consistent and trustworthy.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Ghost CMS platform, utilizing modern JavaScript and CSS technologies. It integrates third-party services including Google Analytics, Umami Analytics, Contextly for related posts, and Stripe for payments. Hosting and DNS are managed via Cloudflare, providing performance and security benefits. The site is mobile optimized with good SEO practices and a professional design. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement through optimization of external scripts and assets.
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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