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Security report for onionshare.org

Science & Design, Inc · Technology · Iceland

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

Security score

56/100

Risk levelMedium

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

OnionShare is an open-source privacy-focused software project that enables anonymous peer-to-peer file sharing, chatting, and web hosting over the Tor network. The project is developed by Science & Design, Inc and partners with reputable privacy organizations such as The Calyx Institute, Guardian Project, and the Tor Project. The website serves a privacy-conscious audience including security specialists and users of privacy-centric operating systems like QubesOS and Tails. The business model is community-driven with donation support and open-source contributions. Technically, the website is well-built using modern web standards and hosted on DigitalOcean, with good mobile optimization and accessibility. Security practices include PGP signature verification for downloads and domain transfer protection, though DNSSEC is not enabled and no explicit security policies or incident response contacts are published. Privacy compliance is partial with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent or terms of service. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and aligned with its privacy-centric mission.

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 onionshare.org

This scan found 14 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
0
Security headers
95
Email security
60
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
56

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

OnionShare occupies a niche market in privacy and anonymity tools, leveraging the Tor network to provide secure file sharing and communication. Its competitive advantage lies in its open-source nature, strong partnerships with privacy organizations, and inclusion in privacy-focused operating systems. The project targets privacy-conscious users and security professionals. Revenue streams appear to be primarily donation-based. The partnership ecosystem includes The Calyx Institute, Guardian Project, and the Tor Project, enhancing credibility and reach. The project has a stable history since 2014 and maintains a consistent brand and messaging focused on privacy and security.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to strong security posture with HTTPS enabled and use of PGP signatures for software verification. The domain is protected against unauthorized transfers. However, the absence of DNSSEC, lack of published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represent gaps. No tracking or analytics scripts are present, supporting privacy. The site does not expose sensitive data or use vulnerable libraries. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved with formal policies and DNS security enhancements.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS integrity and security.
  2. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Implement a cookie policy and consent mechanism to enhance privacy compliance.
  4. Add terms of service to clarify user rights and responsibilities.
  5. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Science & Design, Inc
Description
OnionShare is an open-source tool that lets users securely and anonymously share files, host websites, and chat using the Tor network.
Key services
Anonymous peer-to-peer file sharing, Anonymous chatting, Anonymous web hosting
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery
Platforms
Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • PGP signature verification for downloads
  • Use of Tor network for anonymity
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is comprehensive and well-structured with clear calls to action.
  3. Strong emphasis on privacy and security with open-source transparency.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers provided on the site.
  5. No cookie consent mechanism or terms of service found.
  6. Use of PGP signatures for download verification is a strong security practice.
  7. Partnerships with reputable privacy organizations enhance trust.
  8. No analytics or tracking scripts detected, indicating strong privacy respect.
  9. Hosting on DigitalOcean with DNS configured but DNSSEC not enabled.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a clean, modern tech stack with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery. It is hosted on DigitalOcean with DNS managed by DigitalOcean name servers. The site is mobile optimized and accessible with good SEO practices. No CMS or heavy frameworks detected, indicating low technical debt and good performance. The use of PGP signatures for downloads is a strong security feature. However, the lack of DNSSEC and absence of security headers detected in the provided data suggest areas for technical improvement. Overall, the infrastructure is solid, performant, and well-suited for the privacy-focused audience.
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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