Skip to main content

Security report for riseup.net

Riseup · Technology · N/a

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Riseup is a small, non-profit technology collective founded in 1999 that provides secure online communication tools primarily for activists and groups working on liberatory social change. Their key services include email, VPN, mailing lists, and collaborative tools such as private wikis and real-time text editors. The organization operates on a donation-based model, emphasizing privacy, security, and user self-determination without tracking or selling user data. The website reflects a consistent brand and clear mission with good content quality and navigation. Technically, the site uses standard web technologies like Bootstrap and Font Awesome, with a custom or unknown CMS. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with moderate performance. Security posture is good with HTTPS enabled and domain transfer protection, though DNSSEC is not enabled and some security headers appear missing. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy and GDPR indicators, but no cookie consent mechanism was found. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be improved by enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, and publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy. The lack of direct contact information and incident response channels is noted but consistent with the organization's privacy-focused ethos. The domain WHOIS data is consistent with the organization's history and legitimacy, showing a long domain age and reputable registrar. The website is safe for general audiences, contains no adult or questionable content, and demonstrates a high level of trustworthiness. Strategic recommendations include enhancing DNS security, formalizing incident response contacts, and improving security header implementation to further strengthen the security and trust profile.

Scanned

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

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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. 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 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 riseup.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.

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
95
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
77

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

Riseup occupies a niche market serving privacy-conscious activists and social justice groups with secure communication tools. Their donation-funded, non-commercial business model differentiates them from mainstream providers. The organization leverages a community-driven approach with open source help resources and a transparent operational philosophy. Their market position is stable with a long operational history since 1999. Key competitive advantages include strong privacy commitments, no user tracking, and a suite of integrated communication services tailored to activist needs. Growth indicators include ongoing fundraising campaigns and community engagement. Partnerships appear limited to related activist and open source projects, with no commercial subsidiaries or parent companies identified.

Security posture

Riseup demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, domain transfer lock, and secure service portals. However, the absence of DNSSEC and some recommended security headers indicates room for improvement. No direct incident response or abuse contact emails are published, which may limit rapid vulnerability reporting. The privacy policy is comprehensive and GDPR compliant, supporting strong data protection practices. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the website content. The organization’s security culture is evident in their emphasis on secure communication and privacy but could benefit from formalized vulnerability disclosure and incident response documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the riseup.net domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a security.txt file and clearly document incident response and vulnerability disclosure contacts.
  3. Implement additional security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Consider adding a cookie policy and consent mechanism to align with privacy best practices.
  5. Enhance transparency by providing verified contact information for security and general inquiries.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Riseup
Description
Riseup provides online communication tools for people and groups working on liberatory social change. They create democratic alternatives and practice self-determination by controlling secure means of communications.
Key services
Email (IMAP), VPN, Mailing Lists, Private wikis and group collaboration, Real-time collaborative text editor, File upload services
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap, Font Awesome, HTML5, CSS3
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No DNSSEC enabled (recommend enabling)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure login portals for services

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
excellent

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content.
  2. Focus on privacy and secure communication for activist communities.
  3. No commercial advertising or tracking detected.
  4. Donation-based funding model emphasized.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers publicly listed.
  6. Strong emphasis on security and privacy policies.
  7. No cookie consent mechanism detected.
  8. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure page found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern front-end technologies including Bootstrap and Font Awesome, ensuring responsive design and good accessibility. The site is hosted under a reputable registrar (Gandi SAS) with a long domain history. Performance is moderate with no major technical debt visible in the HTML content. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or static site approach. The lack of DNSSEC and some security headers represents a technical risk that should be addressed. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the organization's mission but could be modernized with enhanced security configurations.
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. 72/100Medium30 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with riseup.net. 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 riseup.net.

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.