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Security report for knot-dns.cz

Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

57/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Knot DNS is an open-source, high-performance authoritative DNS server project targeting network administrators and organizations requiring robust DNS infrastructure. The website presents detailed technical information about the software's features, emphasizing performance, security, and modern DNS capabilities such as DNSSEC and dynamic updates. The project is community-driven and hosted under the CZ.NIC association umbrella, indicating a credible and specialized technology offering. Technically, the website is well-structured, uses modern web technologies, and is optimized for performance and mobile devices. However, it lacks visible privacy and cookie policies, contact information, and security headers, which are areas for improvement. The security posture is moderate, with no obvious vulnerabilities but missing some best practices. Overall, the domain appears legitimate despite the absence of public WHOIS data, likely due to registry privacy policies. The site is safe, professional, and focused on a niche technical audience.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
10/ 100 · Critical
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

6 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.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • 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

    • 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

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Twitter

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

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

Keep watching knot-dns.cz

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.

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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
65
Security headers
80
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
10
Average
57

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 Knot DNS project occupies a niche in the DNS server software market, competing with other authoritative DNS solutions by offering high performance and advanced DNSSEC features. Its open-source model and community-driven development suggest a sustainable approach relying on donations and user contributions. The target customers are technical professionals managing DNS infrastructure, including ISPs, registries, and enterprises. The project benefits from partnerships and ecosystem links with CZ.NIC and related DNS and network projects, enhancing its credibility and reach. The absence of direct commercial offerings or contact details indicates a focus on software distribution rather than direct sales. Growth potential lies in expanding adoption among DNS operators and integration with complementary projects like Knot Resolver.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. It uses HTTPS (implied by external Matomo tracking over HTTPS), but no explicit security headers were detected in the HTML source, which could improve protection against common web attacks. The lack of forms reduces attack surface, and no sensitive data is exposed. However, the absence of privacy and cookie policies and contact information for incident response limits compliance and transparency. No known vulnerabilities or malware indicators were found. The project would benefit from publishing a security policy, incident response contacts, and implementing security headers to enhance trust and compliance with GDPR and other regulations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR compliance and user trust.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Add clear contact information including security incident response contacts to facilitate communication.
  4. Regularly audit and update the website and software dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency by providing WHOIS or registrant information if possible or explain privacy protection rationale.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Description
Knot DNS is a high-performance authoritative-only DNS server which supports all key features of the modern domain name system. It is open-source, free to download and use, and targets platforms such as Linux, BSDs, macOS, and other POSIX operating systems.
Key services
Authoritative DNS server software, Incremental zone transfers (IXFR), Dynamic updates (DDNS), Response rate limiting (RRL), Automatic DNSSEC signing, Dynamic A/AAAA/PTR record synthesis, Rapid on-the-fly reconfiguration
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Matomo Analytics, SVG icons
Platforms
Linux, BSD, macOS, POSIX
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • No forms detected reducing attack surface
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
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 detected
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on main page
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed
  4. No forms present on the homepage
  5. Site uses Matomo analytics with cookies disabled
  6. Content is technical, focused on DNS server software
  7. No security headers detected in HTML source
  8. WHOIS data unavailable, likely due to registry privacy policies
  9. Site branding is consistent and professional
  10. External links mostly to related NIC and DNS infrastructure projects
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with standard HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript technologies, including SVG for icons and Matomo for analytics. It is hosted likely on CZ.NIC infrastructure, ensuring reliable performance and availability. The site is mobile-optimized and has clear navigation and structure. No CMS or complex frameworks were detected, indicating a lightweight and maintainable setup. Performance is fast with asynchronous script loading. However, the site lacks advanced accessibility features and security headers. There is no evidence of technical debt or outdated libraries, but adding modern security practices would strengthen the technical posture.
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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