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Security report for pretalx.com

pretalx · Technology · Germany

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

pretalx is a specialized conference management software platform that facilitates the entire event planning process from Call for Papers to scheduling and publishing. It is positioned as an open source, customizable, and extendable solution trusted by a variety of conferences including PyCon and JuliaCon. The platform targets conference organizers seeking a flexible and transparent tool to manage submissions, reviews, communications, and scheduling. Technically, the website is well-structured with modern HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, optimized for mobile and SEO, and hosted under a reputable German registrar. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enabled and domain transfer protections, though improvements such as DNSSEC and security headers are recommended. Privacy compliance is mostly addressed with clear privacy and terms of service pages, but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, pretalx demonstrates a mature digital presence with strong business credibility and trust signals.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  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.

    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching pretalx.com

This scan found 19 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
75
Email security
55
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
74

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 pretalx.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
172
Employees
0
Customers
172
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
10%

1 subdomain 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 pretalx.com.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

pretalx operates in the technology sector providing open source conference management software with a hosted service business model. Its competitive advantage lies in its customization, transparency, and plugin ecosystem, appealing to a niche market of conference organizers. Revenue streams likely include hosted service subscriptions and custom plugin development. The company shows growth indicators through testimonials and repeated use by major conferences. Partnerships such as with rixx.de enhance its ecosystem. The business is small-sized, founded in 2018, and based in Germany, with a clear focus on community-driven development and open source principles.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protection. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers like Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options indicates room for improvement. No incident response contacts or vulnerability disclosure policies are publicly visible, which could impact readiness for security events. Data protection practices appear aligned with GDPR given the privacy policy, but cookie consent mechanisms are missing. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be enhanced by adopting additional best practices and transparency measures.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and ePrivacy regulations.
  3. Add and document security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Establish and publicize incident response contact channels to improve security incident management and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
pretalx
Description
pretalx is a conference management software that supports the entire process from Call for Papers to scheduling and publishing, designed to be customizable, transparent, extendable, and easy to use.
Key services
Call for Papers management, Review and talk selection, Speaker communication, Scheduling and publishing
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

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

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 rich content and no blocking
  2. Strong presence of testimonials and trust signals
  3. Open source nature enhances transparency and trust
  4. No cookie consent mechanism detected, potential GDPR compliance gap
  5. No explicit security headers detected in HTML content
  6. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and business consistency
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and clean technical stack primarily based on HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript with deferred script loading for performance. It is mobile optimized and SEO friendly with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Hosting details are limited but the domain registrar is reputable. No CMS or major frameworks were explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or lightweight platform. Performance appears fast with no broken elements. Technical debt is minimal based on the provided content, but the lack of advanced security headers and DNSSEC indicates some modernization opportunities. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and reliable user experience.
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. 64/100Medium21 findingsView report
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