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Security report for mastodon.scot

mastodon.scot · Technology · United Kingdom

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

mastodon.scot is an independent Mastodon social networking server primarily targeting users in Scotland or those identifying as Scottish. It provides a federated microblogging platform allowing users to participate in the fediverse. The website is built on Mastodon version 4.4.3, leveraging Ruby on Rails and React technologies, and is hosted with DNS services via Cloudflare. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and user experience with a clear focus on community engagement and trending content. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections, though DNSSEC is not enabled and some security headers are missing. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but lacking cookie consent mechanisms and terms of service. No direct contact information or incident response details are provided, which could be improved to enhance trust and compliance. Overall, mastodon.scot is a credible and well-maintained community platform with room for enhancements in security and privacy transparency.

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

3 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

  2. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching mastodon.scot

This scan found 18 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
75
Security headers
80
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
77

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 mastodon.scot, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
123
Employees
0
Customers
123
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
3%

1 subdomain 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 mastodon.scot.

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

The platform positions itself as a niche social network for Scottish users within the broader Mastodon fediverse, leveraging open-source technology to provide decentralized social media services. Its business model is community-driven without evident monetization or advertising, focusing on user engagement and federated connectivity. The site has a small but active user base (~1.8K monthly active users) and is administered by a known individual. The absence of commercial elements and the open-source nature suggest a non-profit or community service orientation. The ecosystem includes links to prominent news and social sites, indicating a well-connected content environment. Growth potential lies in expanding user base and improving compliance and security features to attract more users seeking privacy-conscious social networking.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and has domain transfer protections, indicating a baseline security awareness. However, the lack of DNSSEC and missing explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represent areas for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analysis. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency and preparedness for security events. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy but no cookie consent or terms of service. Overall, the security posture is moderate, suitable for a community platform but requiring enhancements to meet higher compliance and security standards.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response contact information.
  3. Add cookie consent mechanisms to comply with privacy regulations and improve user trust.
  4. Publish terms of service to clarify user rights and platform policies.
  5. Enhance HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
mastodon.scot
Description
A server intended for (but not limited to) users in Scotland or who identify as Scottish.
Key services
Social networking, Microblogging, Federation with fediverse
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.4.3, Ruby on Rails, React, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails, React
Platforms
Fediverse, Mastodon
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a Mastodon social network instance focused on Scottish users.
  2. Content is user-generated posts with diverse topics including local news, culture, and social issues.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banners detected despite privacy policy presence.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly provided on the page.
  5. No terms of service or security policy pages found.
  6. Site uses modern web technologies and is mobile optimized.
  7. No advertising or tracking scripts detected.
  8. No security incident response or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack based on Mastodon 4.4.3, Ruby on Rails backend, and React frontend. It leverages Cloudflare for DNS services but hosting provider details are not explicit. The site is mobile optimized and uses proper meta tags for SEO and social sharing (Open Graph). Performance is moderate with no major issues detected. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. No CMS detected, as Mastodon is a custom platform. The site uses module preloading and integrity attributes for scripts, indicating attention to modern web performance and security practices. No analytics or advertising scripts were found, aligning with privacy-conscious design.
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. 77/100Low26 findingsView report
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