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Security report for wikidata.org

Wikimedia Foundation · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Wikidata is a free, open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a reputable non-profit organization. It serves as a central repository for structured data supporting Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia. The platform targets a broad audience including researchers, developers, and the general public, providing linked open data and APIs for data access. The business model is community-driven and non-commercial, emphasizing openness and collaboration. Technically, Wikidata is built on the MediaWiki framework with extensions like Wikibase, leveraging modern web technologies including JavaScript and PHP. The site is hosted on Wikimedia Foundation infrastructure, optimized for performance and mobile access, with good SEO and accessibility standards. The technical maturity is high, reflecting a well-maintained and scalable platform. Security posture is strong with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no detected vulnerabilities. Privacy compliance is robust, with clear privacy and cookie policies aligned with GDPR. The site does not expose sensitive data and follows best practices for secure web operations. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure pages were found, but the Wikimedia Foundation maintains high security standards. Overall, Wikidata presents a low-risk profile with high trustworthiness, excellent content quality, and strong technical and security foundations. Strategic recommendations include maintaining ongoing security audits, enhancing public incident response documentation, and continuing to monitor third-party dependencies to sustain security and compliance.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of wikidata.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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 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 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

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

Keep watching wikidata.org

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.

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
75
Security headers
40
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
72

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

Wikidata holds a leading position in the open knowledge base market, uniquely supporting Wikimedia projects worldwide. Its competitive advantage lies in its open data model, community governance, and integration with the Wikimedia ecosystem. Revenue streams are primarily donation-based through the Wikimedia Foundation. Target customers include knowledge workers, developers, and educational institutions. Growth is driven by expanding data coverage and community contributions. Partnerships are mainly internal within Wikimedia projects, with a strong emphasis on transparency and open collaboration.

Security posture

The security maturity of Wikidata is high, with enforced HTTPS, modern security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities. Compliance with GDPR is evident through comprehensive privacy policies and cookie consent mechanisms. The absence of a public incident response page suggests incident handling is managed internally by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data protection practices are strong, with no exposed sensitive information. The security culture is mature, supported by the Foundation's reputation and operational transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Maintain regular security audits and vulnerability assessments to detect emerging threats.
  2. Publish or enhance public-facing incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies to improve transparency.
  3. Continue monitoring and updating third-party libraries and dependencies to mitigate supply chain risks.
  4. Enhance user education and trust signals on security and privacy to reinforce user confidence.
  5. Develop a long-term security strategy focusing on emerging technologies and compliance with evolving regulations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Wikimedia Foundation
Description
Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that acts as central storage for structured data of Wikimedia projects including Wikipedia. It is operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization.
Key services
Structured data repository, Linked open data, Support for Wikimedia projects, Data querying and APIs
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
MediaWiki, JavaScript, PHP, REST APIs, Wikibase
Frameworks
MediaWiki framework, Wikibase
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Content Security Policy
  • Secure cookies
  • No exposed sensitive data

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo (self-hosted)
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
excellent

Advertising

Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is high quality, relevant, and professionally maintained.
  3. Strong security posture with HTTPS and security headers.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant.
  5. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  6. WHOIS data is privacy protected but consistent with a reputable non-profit.
Technical notes

Notes

Wikidata's infrastructure is robust, leveraging the MediaWiki platform and Wikibase extension for structured data management. The technology stack includes PHP and JavaScript, supported by Wikimedia's global hosting infrastructure. Performance is optimized for fast loading and mobile responsiveness. The site demonstrates technical maturity with modern SEO and accessibility features. Opportunities exist to further modernize front-end components and enhance API scalability. Technical risks are minimal given the Foundation's operational expertise and community support.
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. 72/100Medium28 findingsView report
  2. 72/100 −1Medium28 findingsView report
  3. 73/100Medium22 findingsView report
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