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Security report for makotemplates.org

Michael Bayer · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

58/100

Risk levelMedium

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

MakoTemplates.org is the official website for the Mako templating library, a high-performance Python template engine widely used in web development frameworks such as Pylons and Pyramid. The project is open source and licensed under the MIT License, with notable usage by reddit.com, indicating strong market presence and reliability. The website provides comprehensive technical documentation, download links, and examples targeting Python developers seeking efficient templating solutions. Technically, the website is straightforward, built with standard HTML and CSS, and references Python-based frameworks. It lacks advanced CMS or analytics integrations, reflecting a focus on content delivery rather than marketing. The site is accessible without WAF or security challenges, but lacks visible security headers and privacy compliance documentation, which are areas for improvement. From a security perspective, the site shows no immediate vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data but does not demonstrate advanced security best practices such as security headers or incident response contacts. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy protection, which is typical for open source projects and does not detract from legitimacy. Overall, the site is trustworthy, safe, and professionally maintained but would benefit from enhanced privacy and security disclosures. The overall risk is low given the nature of the site and its audience, but strategic recommendations include implementing HTTPS with strong SSL, publishing privacy and cookie policies, adding security headers, and providing clear security incident contacts to improve compliance and trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  2. 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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching makotemplates.org

This scan found 27 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.

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Full report

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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
52
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
58

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

MakoTemplates.org operates as an open source software project focused on providing a Python templating engine that balances performance and flexibility. Its market positioning is strong within the Python web development community, supported by usage in high-traffic sites like reddit.com and integration with popular frameworks. The business model is community-driven with no direct monetization evident on the site. Target customers are developers and organizations building Python web applications. Growth indicators include ongoing maintenance and documentation updates. The partnership ecosystem includes references to Pylons, Pyramid, and dogpile.cache projects. Strategic observations suggest focusing on expanding community engagement and improving compliance documentation to enhance adoption and trust.

Security posture

The security posture of MakoTemplates.org is moderate. The site is accessible without blocking or WAF interference and does not expose sensitive information. However, it lacks visible HTTPS enforcement confirmation, security headers, and formal privacy or cookie policies. There is no evidence of vulnerability disclosure or incident response mechanisms. The absence of these elements suggests a basic security maturity level appropriate for an open source project website but with room for improvement to meet modern compliance standards such as GDPR and NIS2. Enhancing security headers, publishing policies, and providing security contact information would strengthen the security culture and readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTPS with a strong SSL/TLS configuration and verify site-wide enforcement.
  2. Add standard security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve transparency and GDPR compliance.
  4. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy and security incident contact channels.
  5. Regularly audit and update dependencies to mitigate potential security vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Michael Bayer
Description
Mako is a Python template library providing a fast, flexible templating engine used notably by reddit.com and integrated with Pylons and Pyramid web frameworks.
Key services
Python templating library, Template caching, Template inheritance and callable blocks
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Python, HTML, CSS
Frameworks
Pylons, Pyramid
Platforms
Google App Engine (supported)
Performance
fast
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
50/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a technical project site for Mako Python templating library.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the site.
  3. No contact phone numbers or physical addresses found; only one email in copyright footer.
  4. No security headers or HTTPS status available from provided data.
  5. No advertising or analytics scripts detected.
  6. Content is safe and targeted at developers.
  7. WHOIS data is unavailable or privacy protected, common for open source projects.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with basic HTML and CSS, serving static content focused on the Mako Python templating library. It references Python frameworks such as Pylons and Pyramid but does not use a CMS or advanced JavaScript frameworks. Performance is likely fast due to minimalistic design and static content. Mobile optimization and accessibility are basic but functional. SEO optimization is minimal with no advanced meta tags or structured data detected. The technical infrastructure appears stable but could benefit from modernization efforts including responsive design improvements, accessibility enhancements, and SEO best practices adoption.
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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