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Security report for stacks.org

Stacks Open Internet Foundation · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Stacks Foundation is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to activating the Bitcoin economy by supporting builders, developers, and the broader ecosystem through grants, educational programs, and community development. The foundation positions itself as a key player in the blockchain and Bitcoin ecosystem, focusing on open-source technology, governance, and ecosystem growth. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand with clear messaging aligned to its mission. Technically, the site is built on the Tilda CMS platform, uses modern JavaScript libraries like jQuery, and integrates privacy-conscious analytics via Plausible. The site is mobile-optimized and well-structured, though some accessibility features could be improved. Security posture is generally good with HTTPS and domain transfer protection, but lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers. Privacy compliance is limited by the absence of visible privacy and cookie policies or consent mechanisms. No contact emails or phone numbers are explicitly provided, which may limit direct user engagement. Overall, the domain registration data is consistent and supports the legitimacy of the foundation.

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. 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

  3. 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

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

Keep watching stacks.org

This scan found 23 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

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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
72
Security headers
30
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
71

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

Stacks Foundation operates in the technology and non-profit sectors, focusing on blockchain and Bitcoin ecosystem development. Its business model revolves around funding, education, and community support rather than commercial sales. The foundation leverages partnerships with educational entities like Clarity Camp and Mintery to enhance skill development. Its market position is that of a trusted ecosystem enabler with a medium organizational size and a history dating back to 2005. The foundation's revenue streams likely include donations, grants, and sponsorships typical of non-profits. The website content and external links indicate a strong partnership ecosystem and a focus on open governance and decentralized technology development.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and the domain is registered with transfer protection, indicating basic security hygiene. However, the lack of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content Security Policy or HSTS reduces the overall security posture. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is provided, which could hinder rapid response to security incidents. The absence of privacy and cookie policies also suggests gaps in compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content. The use of privacy-respecting analytics is a positive indicator. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be improved with enhanced policies and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear consent mechanisms to enhance GDPR compliance.
  3. Add security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve browser security.
  4. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting and incident response.
  5. Provide clear contact information including security and abuse contacts to improve transparency and user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stacks Open Internet Foundation
Description
The Stacks Foundation supports builders on a mission to activate the Bitcoin economy through broader adoption. They believe Bitcoin and adjacent open-source technology ecosystems will become the foundation for a safer, more equitable, more open internet.
Key services
Grants program for open-source technology development, Residents program (experts in ecosystem), Community development and grassroots event funding, Educational programming and skill development, Technical guidance and ecosystem partnerships
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.10.2, Tilda CMS scripts and styles, Plausible Analytics
Frameworks
Tilda website builder framework
Platforms
Tilda CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • Use of Cloudflare registrar

Analytics and tracking

Services
Plausible Analytics
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Plausible Analytics
Marketing tools
Plausible Analytics
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured.
  2. Content focuses on Bitcoin and Stacks blockchain ecosystem support.
  3. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found on the site.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the homepage or header.
  5. Use of modern analytics with privacy-respecting Plausible Analytics.
  6. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
  7. Domain registration data is transparent and consistent.
  8. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  9. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using the Tilda CMS platform, leveraging jQuery 1.10.2 and various Tilda-specific scripts and styles. It uses Cloudflare as the registrar and likely for DNS and CDN services, contributing to good hosting reliability and security. The site includes plausible.io analytics, which is privacy-focused and lightweight. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and uses modern CSS and JavaScript animations. Performance is moderate, with some external dependencies on Tilda CDN and third-party scripts. There is no evidence of outdated or vulnerable libraries in the provided content. Opportunities exist to improve accessibility and SEO further by adding ARIA roles and more semantic markup. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid for a non-profit foundation website.
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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