Skip to main content

Security report for launchpad.net

Canonical Ltd. · Technology · United Kingdom

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

Launchpad is a mature software collaboration platform operated by Canonical Ltd., providing a comprehensive suite of services including bug tracking, code hosting with Git, code reviews, Ubuntu package building, crowd sourced translations, mailing lists, and specification tracking. It serves a broad audience of software developers and open source communities, positioning itself as a key tool in the open source ecosystem with nearly 48,000 projects hosted. Technically, the website employs a custom CMS with a mature technology stack including the YUI JavaScript library and Vanilla CSS framework. The site is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and performs efficiently with fast load times. Hosting is managed by Canonical, as indicated by the domain's nameservers. SEO and accessibility practices are good, though some modernization opportunities exist given the legacy nature of YUI. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses domain status protections to prevent unauthorized domain changes. However, it lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers, and does not publish a dedicated security policy or incident response contacts. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service linked to official Ubuntu and Canonical pages, though no cookie consent mechanism is implemented. Overall, Launchpad demonstrates a high level of business credibility and technical maturity with a strong security posture, albeit with room for improvement in security transparency and privacy mechanisms. The domain registration data aligns well with the business identity, reinforcing trustworthiness.

Scanned

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

2 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

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

Keep watching launchpad.net

This scan found 19 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
85
Security headers
75
Email security
60
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
76

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention launchpad.net, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
18,168
Employees
0
Customers
18,144
Third parties
24
Weak passwords
13%

27 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for launchpad.net.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Launchpad operates as a platform-as-a-service targeting software developers and open source projects, leveraging Canonical's brand and Ubuntu ecosystem. Its competitive advantage lies in integrated project management tools and deep integration with Ubuntu package hosting. Revenue streams likely include enterprise support and services via Canonical. The platform's extensive user base and project count indicate strong market penetration. Partnerships with Canonical and Ubuntu reinforce its ecosystem position. Strategic observations include the need to modernize technical frameworks and enhance privacy and security transparency to maintain competitive edge and compliance.

Security posture

Launchpad's security maturity is solid with enforced HTTPS, domain registration protections, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers reduces defense-in-depth. Lack of a published security policy and incident response contacts may hinder rapid response to incidents and reduce user trust. GDPR compliance is indicated via privacy policy but cookie consent is missing. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved by adopting modern security standards and transparency practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the launchpad.net domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy including incident response contacts to improve transparency and trust.
  3. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and enhance user privacy controls.
  4. Deploy standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to harden the web application.
  5. Modernize the JavaScript framework stack to reduce technical debt and improve maintainability and security.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Canonical Ltd.
Description
Launchpad is a software collaboration platform that provides bug tracking, code hosting using Git, code reviews, Ubuntu package building and hosting, crowd sourced translations, mailing lists, answer tracking and FAQs, and specification tracking.
Key services
Bug tracking, Code hosting (Git), Code reviews, Ubuntu package building and hosting, Crowd sourced translations, Mailing lists, Answer tracking and FAQs, Specification tracking
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
YUI JavaScript Library, Git, HTML5, CSS3, Vanilla Framework 4.7.0
Frameworks
YUI, Vanilla Framework
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

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 and functional search.
  2. Strong association with Canonical Ltd. and Ubuntu ecosystem.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  4. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected despite GDPR compliance in privacy policy.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact is via support form.
  6. Modernized homepage with clear navigation and featured projects.
  7. Use of YUI JavaScript framework and Vanilla CSS framework indicates mature but somewhat legacy tech stack.
  8. No security.txt or explicit security policy page found.
  9. No DNSSEC enabled on domain.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom CMS with YUI JavaScript and Vanilla CSS frameworks, indicating a mature but somewhat legacy technology stack. Performance is fast with good mobile optimization and accessibility. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Hosting is managed by Canonical, inferred from nameservers. The site lacks DNSSEC and some modern security headers, which are recommended for improved security. No analytics or tracking scripts were detected, indicating minimal user tracking. Overall, the technical infrastructure is stable and performant but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security controls.
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. 62/100 −14Medium27 findingsView report
  2. 76/100Low23 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with launchpad.net. 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 launchpad.net.

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.