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Security report for ruby.social

Private by Design, LLC · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Ruby.social is a niche Mastodon instance dedicated to the Ruby programming language community, operated by Private by Design, LLC based in the US. The platform offers a federated social networking experience tailored for Ruby enthusiasts, with active user engagement and a clear community focus. Technically, the site runs Mastodon version 4.4.1 with modern web technologies including Ruby on Rails and React, delivering a good user experience with mobile optimization and accessible navigation. Security posture is moderate, with HTTPS enforced and domain registration protections in place, but lacking security headers and formal security policies. Privacy compliance is basic, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent or terms of service. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professionally maintained, though improvements in security and privacy transparency are recommended.

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

5 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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 384-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
  3. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Weak SPF Policy

      SPF record has permissive policy allowing any server to send email

      What to do: Use -all or ~all qualifier for better email security

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

Keep watching ruby.social

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.

Daily monitoring

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
52
Security headers
75
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
69

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 ruby.social, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
56
Employees
0
Customers
56
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
2%

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 ruby.social.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

The business operates as a small technology entity focused on community-driven social networking within the fediverse. Its competitive advantage lies in serving a specialized audience of Ruby developers and enthusiasts, leveraging Mastodon's decentralized platform. Revenue streams are not explicit but likely rely on community support or donations. The target customers are developers interested in Ruby and federated social media. The company maintains transparency in domain registration and has a consistent brand presence. Partnerships or subsidiaries are not evident, indicating a focused and independent operation.

Security posture

The security maturity level is moderate. The site uses HTTPS and has domain status flags to prevent unauthorized transfers or deletions. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of published security policies or incident response contacts represent gaps. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Compliance with GDPR is partial, with a privacy policy but no cookie consent mechanism. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly documented, suggesting room for improvement in formal security governance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR.
  5. Develop and publish terms of service to clarify user rights and responsibilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Private by Design, LLC
Description
Ruby.social is an independent Mastodon server focused on the Ruby programming language community. It invites users interested in Ruby to join and participate in the fediverse.
Key services
Federated social networking, Community engagement, Content sharing
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Mastodon 4.4.1, Ruby on Rails, React, JavaScript ES Modules, SVG icons, CSS with integrity hashes
Frameworks
Mastodon, Ruby on Rails
Platforms
Fediverse, Mastodon
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited enabled

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a Mastodon instance focused on Ruby programming community
  2. Content is user-generated social posts with active engagement
  3. No privacy or cookie consent banners detected
  4. No terms of service found
  5. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found
  7. Modern web technologies and frameworks used
  8. No advertising or tracking scripts detected
  9. Good domain registration and ownership transparency
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern and well-maintained technology stack centered on Mastodon 4.4.1, Ruby on Rails, and React. The use of ES modules and integrity hashes for scripts and stylesheets indicates attention to security and performance. The site is mobile-optimized and provides good accessibility features, though some improvements could be made. Hosting appears stable with Porkbun LLC as registrar, but no CDN or cloud hosting provider was explicitly identified. Performance is moderate, with no major technical debt or legacy technology detected. Opportunities exist to enhance security configurations and privacy compliance to reduce technical risks.
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

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