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Security report for wiktionary.org

Wikimedia Foundation · Other · N/a

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

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Wiktionary is a free, multilingual dictionary project operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a reputable non-profit organization. The website provides extensive lexical resources including definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, and translations across many languages. It serves a broad audience including language learners, researchers, and the general public, positioning itself as a leading open content dictionary platform. The business model is community-driven and non-commercial, emphasizing free access to knowledge. Technically, the site is built on the MediaWiki platform, leveraging modern web technologies such as JavaScript and SVG for a responsive and accessible user experience. The site demonstrates excellent mobile optimization, clear navigation, and fast performance. Privacy and terms policies are comprehensive and prominently linked, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. However, no cookie consent mechanism was detected, which could be improved for regulatory compliance. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and secure forms, with no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. The absence of explicit security headers in the HTML source suggests these may be managed at the server or CDN level. There is no published vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file, and no direct security contact information is provided, indicating areas for enhancement in incident response transparency. Overall, Wiktionary presents a high-quality, trustworthy, and secure online dictionary service with strong alignment to Wikimedia Foundation standards. Strategic recommendations include implementing cookie consent, publishing vulnerability disclosure policies, enhancing security header deployment, and providing clearer security incident contacts to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of wiktionary.org. 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

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 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 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 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 wiktionary.org

This scan found 21 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
75
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
68

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

Wiktionary operates as a key Wikimedia Foundation project, leveraging the foundation's global brand and infrastructure. Its market position as a free, open-content multilingual dictionary gives it a competitive advantage in accessibility and breadth of content. The non-profit business model relies on community contributions and donations rather than commercial revenue streams. The target audience is broad, encompassing general users worldwide seeking language resources. The project benefits from a strong partnership ecosystem within Wikimedia projects, enhancing content richness and cross-linking. Growth indicators include extensive language coverage and high daily page views. Operationally, the project maintains consistent branding and content quality, reinforcing its authoritative position in the online dictionary space.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS usage and secure form handling. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or Strict-Transport-Security in the source code suggests potential improvements. The absence of a published vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file and no explicit incident response contacts limit transparency and readiness communication. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, indicating strong data protection practices. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by formalizing vulnerability management and incident response disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and verify HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR and ePrivacy Directive.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve transparency and facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Provide explicit security incident response contact information on the website.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Wikimedia Foundation
Description
Wiktionary is a free, multilingual dictionary project that provides definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, translations, and other linguistic information for words in many languages. It is a Wikimedia Foundation project and operates as a free content dictionary.
Key services
Multilingual dictionary entries, Language translations, Etymology and pronunciation guides, Open content and collaborative editing
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, SVG sprites, HTML5, CSS3
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by URL)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure form with POST method

Analytics and tracking

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 rich, multilingual, and professionally presented.
  3. Strong alignment with Wikimedia Foundation branding and projects.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the main page.
  5. Privacy and terms policies are clearly linked and comprehensive.
  6. No cookie consent mechanism detected, which may be a minor compliance gap.
  7. No explicit security headers detected in HTML source; likely managed at server level.
  8. No advertising or tracking scripts detected, indicating strong privacy focus.
  9. Technical implementation uses MediaWiki platform and modern web standards.
  10. No suspicious or malicious domains linked.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the MediaWiki platform, a robust and widely used open-source wiki software. It uses modern web standards including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript with SVG sprites for efficient graphics. The site is optimized for mobile devices and accessibility, with responsive design and clear navigation. Performance appears fast with minimal external dependencies. The hosting is likely managed by Wikimedia Foundation's infrastructure, known for reliability and scalability. No major technical debt or outdated technologies were observed. Opportunities exist to enhance security headers and implement cookie consent mechanisms to align with best practices.
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. 68/100 −3Medium30 findingsView report
  2. 71/100Medium24 findingsView report
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