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Security report for opendatacommons.org

Open Knowledge Foundation · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Open Data Commons, maintained by the Open Knowledge Foundation, is a non-profit organization providing legal tools and licenses to facilitate the publication and use of open data. The website serves as a resource hub offering licenses such as the Open Database License (ODbL), Attribution License (ODC-By), and Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL), targeting open data publishers, users, and legal professionals. The organization is well-established with a domain age dating back to 2006, reflecting its longstanding presence in the open data community. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and the Mmenu.js library for navigation. It uses Cloudflare for DNS services and serves content over HTTPS with a good SSL configuration. The site is moderately performant, mobile-optimized, and includes privacy-conscious analytics via Plausible. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and some security headers are missing, representing areas for improvement. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates a solid baseline with HTTPS and domain transfer protection but lacks publicly available security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or suspicious patterns were detected. Privacy compliance is strong with clear privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies linked, and minimal user tracking. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-aligned with its mission. Strategic recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, publishing security and incident response policies, and implementing a vulnerability disclosure program to enhance security posture and trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

7 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 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 opendatacommons.org

This scan found 25 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
15
Email security
40
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
61

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 opendatacommons.org, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for opendatacommons.org right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Open Data Commons operates within the open data and legal tools sector as a non-profit entity under the Open Knowledge Foundation. Its market positioning is strong in the niche of open data licensing, providing authoritative licenses and guidance. The business model focuses on community and legal support rather than commercial revenue. Target customers include data publishers, legal professionals, and open data users globally. The organization benefits from a reputable parent entity and a consistent brand presence. Growth indicators include active community forums and multiple social media channels. Partnerships are primarily with the Open Knowledge Foundation and related open data initiatives. The website content and structure support its mission effectively, though expansion of security and compliance transparency could further strengthen market confidence.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced with a valid SSL certificate, and domain transfer protections are in place. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security are absent, which could mitigate certain attack vectors. No forms or input fields are present on the homepage, reducing attack surface. The absence of a public security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency and preparedness. Privacy compliance is well addressed, and analytics usage is privacy-conscious. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a non-profit informational site but could be improved with enhanced DNS security, security headers, and published security governance documents.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement key security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Publish a formal security policy and incident response plan accessible on the website.
  4. Establish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain GDPR compliance and transparency.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Open Knowledge Foundation
VAT number
GB 984404989
Registration number
05133759
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Open Knowledge Foundation
Description
Open Data Commons is the home of a set of legal tools and licenses to help you publish, provide and use open data.
Key services
Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL), Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By), Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL), Guides and FAQs on open data licensing
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Mmenu.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
Plausible Analytics
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
plausible.io
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is focused on legal tools and licenses for open data.
  3. Clear affiliation with the Open Knowledge Foundation.
  4. Use of modern JavaScript library for navigation (Mmenu.js).
  5. No forms detected on the homepage; contact via email link.
  6. No explicit security policy or incident response information publicly available.
  7. DNSSEC not enabled, which is a minor security gap.
  8. Use of Plausible Analytics indicates privacy-conscious analytics.
  9. Social media presence on multiple platforms including Twitter, YouTube, Mastodon, LinkedIn, GitHub.
  10. Footer contains comprehensive legal links and company information.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a custom or unknown CMS with a clean HTML5 and CSS implementation. It uses the Mmenu.js library for responsive navigation and loads fonts from an external CDN. Hosting is supported by Cloudflare DNS services, though no direct hosting provider is identified. Performance is moderate with deferred loading of analytics scripts. Mobile optimization is good with responsive navigation and viewport settings. SEO is supported by meta description tags and structured navigation. Accessibility is basic but could be enhanced with ARIA roles and landmarks. No broken links or errors were detected. Technical risks include lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers, which are recommended for mitigation.
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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