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Is floss.social a Scam? Security Check Results - FLOSS.social

floss.social Security Report Summary

floss.social received a security score of 71 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers FLOSS.social's website security posture. FLOSS.social operates in the Technology industry in N/a.

FLOSS.social is an independent Mastodon server launched in 2018, dedicated to the Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) community. It provides a decentralized social media platform encouraging open discussion primarily in English, with a strong emphasis on community guidelines and inclusivity. The platform is supported financially through a supporter program using Liberapay and is hosted on infrastructure provided by Masto.Host and OVH, with additional services from BunnyCDN and SparkPost. The website is well-structured, with clear policies and contact information, reflecting a mature community-focused service. Technically, FLOSS.social leverages Mastodon and a customized TangerineUI frontend, employing modern JavaScript modules and CDN resources. Hosting and infrastructure choices indicate a reliable and scalable setup. The website demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, although some improvements in security headers and cookie consent mechanisms are recommended. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and maintains a comprehensive community code of conduct with clear enforcement and incident reporting channels. However, explicit security headers and a formal vulnerability disclosure policy are absent, representing areas for enhancement. The WHOIS data is privacy-protected but consistent with the site's legitimate community focus. Overall, FLOSS.social presents a trustworthy, community-driven social media platform with solid technical foundations and a positive security posture. Strategic improvements in security policy transparency and cookie consent would further strengthen its compliance and user trust.

The security scan identified 24 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Mastodon, TangerineUI, Ruby on Rails (implied by Mastodon), JavaScript ES Modules, BunnyCDN, SparkPost.

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.

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Is floss.social Safe? Security Analysis for FLOSS.social

https://floss.social

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TechnologyN/asmall
MastodonTangerineUIRuby on Rails (implied by Mastodon)JavaScript ES ModulesBunnyCDN+1 more
Analyzed 10/7/2025Completed 4:24:33 PM6mo ago
71
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Technology avg (72)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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

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AI Summary

FLOSS.social is an independent Mastodon server launched in 2018, dedicated to the Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) community. It provides a decentralized social media platform encouraging open discussion primarily in English, with a strong emphasis on community guidelines and inclusivity. The platform is supported financially through a supporter program using Liberapay and is hosted on infrastructure provided by Masto.Host and OVH, with additional services from BunnyCDN and SparkPost. The website is well-structured, with clear policies and contact information, reflecting a mature community-focused service. Technically, FLOSS.social leverages Mastodon and a customized TangerineUI frontend, employing modern JavaScript modules and CDN resources. Hosting and infrastructure choices indicate a reliable and scalable setup. The website demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, although some improvements in security headers and cookie consent mechanisms are recommended. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and maintains a comprehensive community code of conduct with clear enforcement and incident reporting channels. However, explicit security headers and a formal vulnerability disclosure policy are absent, representing areas for enhancement. The WHOIS data is privacy-protected but consistent with the site's legitimate community focus. Overall, FLOSS.social presents a trustworthy, community-driven social media platform with solid technical foundations and a positive security posture. Strategic improvements in security policy transparency and cookie consent would further strengthen its compliance and user trust.

Detected Technologies

MastodonTangerineUIRuby on Rails (implied by Mastodon)JavaScript ES ModulesBunnyCDNSparkPost

7 urgent findings need attention

7 high

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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

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Security Headers

4 findings

75/100

GDPR Compliance

3 findings

58/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

4 findings

70/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

FLOSS.social occupies a niche position as a Mastodon instance serving the FLOSS community, differentiating itself through a clear focus on open source values and community governance. Its business model relies on community support via Liberapay, indicating a non-commercial, sustainability-driven approach. The platform's partnerships with reputable hosting and service providers enhance its operational reliability. The target audience includes open source enthusiasts and federated social media users, with growth potential tied to the broader adoption of decentralized social networks. The transparent community code of conduct and active moderation contribute to a safe and inclusive environment, fostering user retention and engagement. The absence of commercial advertising and minimal tracking aligns with the community's privacy expectations, reinforcing FLOSS.social's credibility and appeal.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

FLOSS.social demonstrates a moderate to strong security posture with mandatory HTTPS usage and a robust community code of conduct that addresses harassment and abuse with clear enforcement mechanisms. The site provides multiple channels for incident reporting, including direct email contact. However, the lack of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options reduces its defense-in-depth capabilities. No formal security policy or vulnerability disclosure program is published, which could limit transparency and responsiveness to security issues. The WHOIS privacy protection is justified and does not raise suspicion. Overall, the security maturity is appropriate for a community social platform but would benefit from formalizing security policies and enhancing technical controls.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and publish explicit security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen browser security.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

FLOSS.social

Description:

FLOSS.social is a Mastodon server launched on 1 April 2018 for people who care about, support, or build Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS). It encourages community discussions beyond FLOSS and recommends English for communication. The service is maintained partly by Masto.Host with equipment at OVH, uses BunnyCDN for object storage, and SparkPost for outbound email. It uses a modified TangerineUI for Mastodon and features a logo based on the Free Software Logo by Robert Martinez.

Key Services:
Decentralized social media hostingCommunity moderation and supportSupporter program for sustainability
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
MastodonTangerineUIRuby on Rails (implied by Mastodon)JavaScript ES ModulesBunnyCDNSparkPost
Frameworks:
MastodonTangerineUI
Platforms:
Fediverse
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of email contact for abuse and moderation
  • Community Code of Conduct with enforcement policies

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:excellent

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:excellent

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 focused on FLOSS community.

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🛡️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

58/100
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

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

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📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

70/100
Score

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

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:_mailcust.gandi.net include:_spf.sparkpostmail.com ~all
DNS Lookups:2/10
Policy:~all
DMARC Details
Policy:quarantine
Aggregate Reports:admin@floss.social

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

75/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 59 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 384-bit key, which is considered weak

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:floss.social
Issuer:E7
Valid Until:12/6/2025 (59 days)
SANs:floss.social

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

90/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

DNS Records

A Records:217.182.80.236
AAAA Records:2001:41d0:302:1100::1:7615
Name Servers:
ns1.digitalocean.comDNS only
ns2.digitalocean.comDNS only
ns3.digitalocean.comDNS only
MX Records:
10: spool.mail.gandi.net
50: fb.mail.gandi.net

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

How does floss.social compare?

See how floss.social 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 with a customized TangerineUI frontend, utilizing modern JavaScript modules and CSS assets with integrity checks. Hosting is provided by Masto.Host and OVH, with BunnyCDN for object storage and SparkPost for email delivery, indicating a robust and scalable infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO metadata including Open Graph tags. Performance is moderate, with no significant delays or errors detected. The absence of a CMS is typical for Mastodon instances. Technical debt appears low, but security header implementation and cookie consent mechanisms are areas for modernization. Overall, the technical implementation supports the business goals effectively with room for security and privacy enhancements.
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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

Domainfloss.social
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

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