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Security report for mstdn.science

Technology · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Email security, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

50/100

Risk levelMedium

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

mstdn.science is an independent Mastodon instance launched in 2022, serving as a social networking platform for scientists and science enthusiasts to discuss research and related topics. It operates within the federated social web (fediverse) using the open-source Mastodon software. The platform is hosted via Cloudflare and uses modern web technologies including React and JavaScript. The website is well designed, mobile optimized, and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and relevant content. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections, though some security headers and policies could be improved. Privacy compliance is basic, with a privacy policy present but lacking cookie consent and GDPR explicit indicators. No business contact information or formal security policies are published, reflecting the community-driven nature of the service. Overall, the site is trustworthy and safe for general audiences, with a moderate AI score reflecting good technical and content quality but room for privacy and security enhancements.

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

4 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. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  3. 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 mstdn.science

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.

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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
0
Security headers
75
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
50

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 platform targets a niche audience of scientists and science enthusiasts, positioning itself as a community-focused Mastodon server within the broader fediverse. It leverages open-source technology and community moderation rather than commercial business models. The lack of formal business contact details and certifications aligns with its small, independent nature. The server reports around 500 active users monthly, indicating a modest but engaged user base. The use of privacy protection in WHOIS is justified to protect admin privacy. The platform benefits from Cloudflare's infrastructure for DNS and hosting, enhancing reliability and performance. No direct partnerships or subsidiaries are identified, consistent with its community-driven model.

Security posture

Security is generally good with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer lock enabled. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which is a recommended improvement. The site lacks explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options in the analyzed content. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response policies are published, which could hinder coordinated security incident handling. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The absence of cookie consent mechanisms and limited privacy compliance features are notable gaps. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a community server but could be enhanced with formal policies and additional technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to improve domain security and prevent DNS 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 transparency.
  4. Include explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  5. Publish terms of service and enhance privacy policy to explicitly address GDPR compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Description
http://mstdn.science is a place for scientists and science enthusiasts to discuss research and topics surrounding our work.
Key services
social networking, microblogging, community discussions
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.3.8, Ruby on Rails (implied by Mastodon), JavaScript, React (implied by chunk.js and UI components), Cloudflare DNS and hosting
Frameworks
Mastodon, React
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

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
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is a Mastodon social network instance focused on science and research discussions.
  2. Content is publicly accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent mechanisms detected.
  4. WHOIS data shows privacy protection but consistent with small community server.
  5. No business contact emails or phone numbers found.
  6. Site uses Cloudflare for DNS and hosting.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found.
  8. Site uses modern web technologies and is mobile optimized.
  9. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses Mastodon version 4.3.8, a modern federated social networking platform built on Ruby on Rails and React. Hosting and DNS are managed by Cloudflare, providing robust infrastructure. The site loads multiple JavaScript chunks and CSS files with integrity hashes, indicating attention to resource integrity. Mobile optimization is good, and accessibility features are basic but present. SEO is basic with meta tags and Open Graph data included. No CMS is detected, consistent with Mastodon's architecture. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by dynamic content and federated nature. No major technical debt or deprecated technologies were identified. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and privacy compliance features to modern standards.
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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