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Security report for openlibrary.org

Internet Archive · Education · United States

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in Email security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

46/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Open Library, operated by the Internet Archive, is a large, well-established non-profit digital library platform providing free access to over 3 million books. The website offers services such as controlled digital lending, book borrowing, reading logs, and community engagement for librarians and volunteers. The platform targets a general audience interested in education and free digital content. Technically, the site uses standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery, hosted by Internet Archive's infrastructure. The site is mobile optimized and accessible with good SEO practices. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and domain transfer protections, though DNSSEC is not enabled and security headers are not evident. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing explicit privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the site is trustworthy and professional, with a strong market position in the digital library space.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of openlibrary.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

10 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. 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';…

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

Keep watching openlibrary.org

This scan found 22 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
15
Email security
40
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
46

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 openlibrary.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
137,355
Employees
0
Customers
137,334
Third parties
21
Weak passwords
17%

8 subdomains 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 openlibrary.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Brand lookalikes

Add-on

Domains that imitate openlibrary.org and could be used for phishing or spoofed email, tracked in OffSeq Breach.

Tracked
13
Registered
13
Resolving
13
High or critical
0

Last checked 2026-06-19

Masked preview

  • op•••••••••.orgMediumbitsquatting
  • op••••••••••.orgLowhyphenation
  • xn••••••••••••••••••••.orgLowhomoglyph

See the full lookalike list

A one-off add-on that lists up to 20 of the highest-risk lookalikes of openlibrary.org with registration, mail-server, certificate and DNS signals.

Select it in the checkout above.

Lookalike data refreshes continuously. Monitoring on Breach alerts you when a variant is registered, gains a mail server or starts serving HTTPS.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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 Library holds a leading position in the digital library and educational content sector, leveraging the Internet Archive's reputation and infrastructure. Its business model is non-profit, focusing on free access to books and educational resources. The platform supports community contributions and volunteerism, enhancing content quality and engagement. Revenue streams likely include donations and grants, as indicated by donation iframe integration. The site maintains a clean, professional design with consistent branding and trust signals such as Google and Bing site verifications. The absence of commercial advertising and tracking suggests a privacy-conscious approach aligned with its non-profit mission.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and domain status flags prevent unauthorized transfers or updates. However, the lack of DNSSEC and absence of security headers like Content Security Policy or HSTS reduce the overall security posture. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is published, which is a gap in transparency and readiness. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. Forms appear standard without evident security issues. The site would benefit from publishing a security policy and implementing additional HTTP security headers to enhance protection.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish HTTP security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies with GDPR compliance statements.
  4. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Provide explicit contact information for security incidents and data protection officer if applicable.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Internet Archive
Description
Open Library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. Read, borrow, and discover more than 3M books for free.
Key services
Free online book reading, Controlled Digital Lending, Book borrowing, Library catalog browsing, Reading logs and lists, Volunteer and librarian community engagement
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Slick Carousel, GNU Affero General Public License for JS code
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited and clientUpdateProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of iframe sandboxing for donation iframe

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established digital library platform operated by Internet Archive.
  2. Content is rich and focused on free access to books and educational resources.
  3. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found on the homepage HTML.
  4. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in the provided content.
  5. Use of HTTPS and domain transfer protection status are positive security indicators.
  6. No evidence of advertising networks or tracking pixels in the HTML content.
  7. Site uses standard web technologies and open source licensed JavaScript.
  8. Mobile and accessibility considerations are implemented with responsive design and ARIA attributes.
  9. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy detected.
  10. No social media links explicitly found in the provided HTML snippet.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and standard technology stack with HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery. It employs the Slick Carousel library for interactive book carousels. The site is hosted by the Internet Archive, ensuring reliable infrastructure. Performance is moderate with some asynchronous loading and lazy loading of images. Mobile optimization and accessibility are well addressed with responsive design and ARIA attributes. SEO is supported by meta tags and structured navigation. There is no evidence of a commercial CMS; likely a custom or in-house platform. The site uses open source licensed JavaScript code, promoting transparency and community trust.
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. 53/100Medium36 findingsView report
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