Skip to main content

Is fediscience.org a Scam? Security Check Results - FediScience e.V.

fediscience.org Security Report Summary

fediscience.org received a security score of 64 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers FediScience e.V.'s website security posture. FediScience e.V. operates in the Technology industry in Germany.

FediScience.org is a specialized social networking platform for scientists and researchers, operated by the registered non-profit association FediScience e.V. in Germany. The platform leverages the Mastodon open-source software to provide a decentralized and community-driven environment focused on scientific communication. The target audience includes PhD students, professors, and researchers both within and outside academia. The business model is community-supported with voluntary donations via Liberapay and Patreon, reflecting a non-commercial, mission-driven approach. The platform holds a niche position within the fediverse, emphasizing inclusivity and scientific discourse.

The security scan identified 27 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Mastodon 4.3.4, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, Liberapay (donation platform), Patreon (donation platform).

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

fediscience.org favicon

Is fediscience.org Safe? Security Analysis for FediScience e.V.

https://fediscience.org

Check if fediscience.org is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyGermanysmall
Mastodon 4.3.4JavaScriptCSSHTML5Liberapay (donation platform)+1 more
Analyzed 9/4/2025Completed 11:45:32 PM6mo ago
64
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Technology avg (72)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

Security teams trust us

EveryPay

Secure checkout

Instant

Reports delivered

Professional PDF & Marketing Data

Get the professional PDF report for fediscience.org

Export this security analysis as a professional PDF document, receive it via email, and access marketing intelligence data including contact emails and phone numbers. One-time purchase for lifetime access.

PDF Report & Export

PDF download, email delivery, unlock code

39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainfediscience.org
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

AI Summary

FediScience.org is a specialized social networking platform for scientists and researchers, operated by the registered non-profit association FediScience e.V. in Germany. The platform leverages the Mastodon open-source software to provide a decentralized and community-driven environment focused on scientific communication. The target audience includes PhD students, professors, and researchers both within and outside academia. The business model is community-supported with voluntary donations via Liberapay and Patreon, reflecting a non-commercial, mission-driven approach. The platform holds a niche position within the fediverse, emphasizing inclusivity and scientific discourse.

Detected Technologies

Mastodon 4.3.4JavaScriptCSSHTML5Liberapay (donation platform)Patreon (donation platform)

6 urgent findings need attention

6 high

Continuous monitoring

Keep fediscience.org under constant watch

Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

25 €
per month · billed securely via EveryPay
Less than 1 € / day — cheaper than a single incident response hour

Cancel anytime. Alerts sent to the contacts you choose. Unlock the full report to view historical timelines and alerts.

Purchase to access the monitoring timeline, JSON diffs, alert history, and PDF export for fediscience.org.

Security Headers

4 findings

75/100

GDPR Compliance

4 findings

53/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

4 findings

75/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The organization maintains a clear market position as a dedicated social network for the scientific community, differentiating itself through its focus on publishing scientists and active researchers. Its competitive advantage lies in its community moderation, transparent governance, and alignment with open-source principles. Revenue streams are primarily donation-based, supporting infrastructure and moderation costs. The partnership ecosystem includes open-source Mastodon and donation platforms like Liberapay and Patreon. Growth indicators include an active user base of approximately 915 monthly active users and ongoing community engagement. Strategic observations suggest opportunities to enhance compliance and security posture to strengthen trust and scalability.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Company Registration

Legal Name:

FediScience e.V.

Registration Number:

VR 240410

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The security maturity of fediscience.org is moderate. The site uses HTTPS and has domain transfer protections in place, but lacks DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security. There is no visible security policy or incident response contact information, which could hinder timely vulnerability reporting and mitigation. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism indicates partial GDPR compliance gaps. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Overall, the platform demonstrates basic security hygiene but would benefit from enhanced security controls and formalized policies to improve resilience and compliance.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain integrity.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

FediScience e.V.

Description:

fediscience.org is a social network for scientists run by FediScience e.V., an international association dedicated to promoting scientific communication.

Key Services:
Decentralized social networking for scientistsCommunity moderation and supportPublishing and discussion platform for scientific topics
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Mastodon 4.3.4JavaScriptCSSHTML5Liberapay (donation platform)Patreon (donation platform)
Frameworks:
Mastodon
Platforms:
FediverseMastodon
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
70/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enabled (implied by wss:// and https:// URLs)
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:poor

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is a Mastodon instance dedicated to scientists and researchers.

Get this report delivered to your inbox

Receive a summary of the fediscience.org security findings by email. Quick and easy to share with decision makers.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

75/100
Score

Weak X-XSS-Protection configuration

LOW

Current value: "0"

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "same-origin"

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

53/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
emailphone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Need this report as a PDF?

Download the complete fediscience.org security analysis as a professional PDF. Share it with your team, clients, or stakeholders.

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:mailservers.webling.ch include:_spf-eu.ionos.com include:spf.m1234.de ~all
DNS Lookups:3/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:support@fediscience.org

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

95/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 51 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:fediscience.org
Issuer:R10
Valid Until:10/26/2025 (51 days)
SANs:fediscience.org

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

75/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
5 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(81 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:144.76.90.220
AAAA Records:2a01:4f8:192:20cb::2
Name Servers:
ns1058.ui-dns.org
ns1062.ui-dns.biz
ns1086.ui-dns.de
ns1088.ui-dns.com
MX Records:
10: mx00.ionos.de
10: mx01.ionos.de
SOA:Serial: 2017060120, TTL: 600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:32ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:mailservers.webling.ch include:_spf-eu.ionos.com include:spf.m1234.de ~all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

40/100
Score

Service Exposed: SSH

MEDIUM

Port 22 (SSH) is publicly accessible - SSH - Secure but can be brute-forced

How does fediscience.org compare?

See how fediscience.org stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on the Mastodon platform version 4.3.4, utilizing modern web technologies including JavaScript and CSS. Hosting is provided by IONOS SE, a reputable registrar and hosting provider. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with proper meta tags and SEO optimizations in place. The absence of a traditional CMS indicates a custom deployment of Mastodon. Technical risks include lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers, which could be addressed to reduce attack surface. Overall, the infrastructure is adequate for the community size but could be modernized with enhanced security and privacy features.
Professional PDF & Marketing Data

Download the fediscience.org report as PDF

Get the complete analysis in a shareable PDF format, delivered instantly to your email with lifetime access.

PDF Report & Export

PDF download, email delivery, unlock code

39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainfediscience.org
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

Scan your own website

Liked the fediscience.org report? Run the same comprehensive security analysis on your domain — free, instant, and no sign-up required.

Or browse our directory of >10,000 scanned websites.

⭐ Verified Community Reviews

What others say about fediscience.org

Share your experience to help others make informed decisions. We verify every review by email and publish it once our moderation team approves it.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

out of 5

0 reviews published

Loading reviews…

How did we do?

Your feedback directly shapes our roadmap. Rate the quality of this report, leave an optional comment, and let us know if you want our security specialists 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.

Analyze Another Website