Skip to main content

Security report for ostif.org

Open Source Technology Improvement Fund · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Open Source Technology Improvement Fund (OSTIF) is a small non-profit organization focused on improving the security of open source software through facilitating security audits and reviews. Their website positions them as a key community-driven entity with a large network of security experts and partner projects. Technically, the site is built on WordPress using the OceanWP theme and is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS and CDN services. However, the website suffers from a lack of a valid SSL certificate and does not properly enable HTTPS, which is a critical security shortfall. Security headers are minimal, with only HSTS enabled but without full recommended settings. Privacy and cookie policies are absent, and no contact information such as emails or phone numbers are provided, which impacts trust and compliance. The site has a slow load time and basic SEO and accessibility features. Overall, OSTIF's website provides good content and branding but requires urgent improvements in security and privacy compliance to enhance trustworthiness and user safety.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
25/ 100 · Critical
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

8 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 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 Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching ostif.org

This scan found 24 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
92
Security headers
35
Email security
40
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
25
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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

OSTIF operates in the technology sector as a non-profit entity dedicated to securing open source software. Their business model relies on sponsorships and community engagement to fund security audits. The organization has a strong market position within the open source security niche, supported by a large community of security experts and partner projects. Their digital presence includes active social media channels on platforms like X (Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, and GitHub, which supports outreach and transparency. However, the lack of explicit privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies may hinder partnerships and user trust. The absence of direct contact information limits business communication channels. OSTIF's website content is professionally presented and relevant to its audience, but technical and security shortcomings could impact growth and credibility.

Security posture

OSTIF's current security posture is weak due to the absence of a valid SSL certificate and lack of HTTPS enforcement, exposing users to potential interception risks. While HSTS is enabled, it is not configured with includeSubDomains or preload flags, reducing its effectiveness. The site does not implement other important security headers such as Content Security Policy or X-Frame-Options. No DMARC, DNSSEC, or CAA DNS records are present, which weakens email and DNS security. The site does not support modern TLS protocols or OCSP stapling, and session resumption is disabled, indicating outdated SSL/TLS configuration. No vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file is found, limiting transparency and incident response readiness. Overall, OSTIF should prioritize SSL/TLS deployment, enhance DNS security, and publish clear security policies to improve its security maturity.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS across the entire site.
  2. Configure modern TLS protocols (TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3) and enable OCSP stapling and session resumption.
  3. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with a consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other regulations.
  4. Add explicit contact information including security incident response contacts and data protection officer details if applicable.
  5. Implement additional security headers such as Content Security Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  6. Add DMARC, DNSSEC, and CAA DNS records to improve email and DNS security.
  7. Create and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  8. Improve website performance by optimizing resource loading and reducing page load times.
  9. Enhance accessibility features and SEO optimization for better user experience and discoverability.
  10. Maintain consistent branding and update content regularly to strengthen trust and engagement.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS using the OceanWP theme, leveraging jQuery and FontAwesome libraries. It is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS and CDN services, which provide DNS resolution and some security features. However, the SSL/TLS configuration is severely lacking, with no valid certificate and no TLS protocols enabled, resulting in insecure connections. The site has a slow load time of over 8 seconds despite a small page size, indicating potential inefficiencies in resource loading or server response. The site includes standard SEO meta tags but lacks structured data and Open Graph tags, limiting rich search engine results. Accessibility is basic with some ARIA labels and semantic HTML but could be improved. The site uses minimal analytics via Cloudflare Insights. Overall, the technical infrastructure is functional but requires modernization and security hardening to meet current web standards and user expectations.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with ostif.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review ostif.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.