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Security report for php.net

The PHP Group · Technology · N/a

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The PHP.net website represents The PHP Group, the steward of the PHP programming language, a widely used open-source scripting language powering many websites globally. The site offers comprehensive resources including downloads, documentation, community involvement, and news updates, positioning PHP as a leading technology in web development. The target audience includes developers and IT professionals seeking PHP resources and updates. Technically, the site uses PHP, JavaScript, and jQuery, hosted on EasyDNS infrastructure, with a moderate performance profile and good mobile and accessibility features. However, the site lacks HTTPS, which is a critical security shortfall. Security posture is moderate with SPF and DMARC DNS records configured, but no SSL/TLS, HSTS, or security headers are present, exposing users to risks. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy and minimal user tracking via Matomo analytics configured with privacy-respecting settings. Business credibility is high due to clear company information, active community engagement, and transparency in security audits. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy but requires urgent security improvements.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of php.net. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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 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';…

  2. 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 php.net

This scan found 17 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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Recommended

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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
50
Security headers
40
Email security
50
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
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

The PHP Group operates as an essential entity in the technology sector, focusing on open-source software development and community support. Its market position is strong, with PHP being a foundational technology for web development worldwide. Revenue streams likely include sponsorships, donations, and partnerships. The organization maintains a robust partnership ecosystem with entities like The PHP Foundation, OSTIF, and Quarkslab, enhancing its security and community outreach. Growth indicators include regular releases, security audits, and active conference participation. The business model emphasizes open collaboration and transparency, fostering trust and long-term sustainability.

Security posture

The website's security maturity is moderate but with critical gaps. While DNS security records such as SPF and DMARC are properly configured, the absence of HTTPS and related SSL/TLS protections is a major vulnerability. No security headers or HSTS policies are implemented, increasing exposure to common web attacks. The site demonstrates transparency by publishing security audit results and encouraging upgrades to secure versions. However, incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies are not explicitly found on the site. Data protection practices are implied but not formally documented. Overall, the security culture shows awareness but requires enhancements to meet modern standards and compliance requirements.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTPS with a valid SSL/TLS certificate immediately to secure all site traffic.
  2. Add HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Deploy HSTS with includeSubDomains and preload directives to enforce secure connections.
  4. Establish and publish a formal vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response plan.
  5. Introduce a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user trust.
Technical notes

Notes

The website infrastructure is based on PHP with client-side JavaScript libraries such as jQuery. Hosting is managed by EasyDNS with multiple DNS servers providing redundancy. Performance is currently slow with a high load time and many resources, indicating potential for optimization. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and Open Graph data. However, the lack of HTTPS and modern security configurations represents a significant technical risk. The technology stack is mature but could benefit from modernization and performance tuning to improve user experience and security.
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. 73/100 +1Medium28 findingsView report
  2. 72/100 −1Medium27 findingsView report
  3. 73/100 +6Medium29 findingsView report
  4. 67/100Medium24 findingsView report
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