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Is gnome.org a Scam? Security Check Results - The GNOME Project Reviews

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Is gnome.org Safe? Security Analysis for The GNOME Project

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

TechnologyN/alarge
HTML5CSS (Inter font)JavaScriptThree.jsGLTFLoader
Analyzed 9/6/2025Completed 12:17:14 PM
60
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The GNOME Project operates as a leading open source desktop environment platform, providing an elegant and user-friendly computing experience primarily for Linux users. It offers a suite of core applications, a developer platform, and community-driven initiatives such as GNOME Circle for app certification and mentoring. The project is supported by major technology companies and infrastructure providers, reflecting a strong market position within the open source ecosystem. The website is professionally designed, highly accessible, and optimized for performance, demonstrating a mature digital presence. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies including HTML5, CSS with custom fonts, and JavaScript libraries like Three.js for interactive 3D elements. It is optimized for mobile devices and provides clear navigation and content structure. Hosting and infrastructure partnerships with providers such as Fastly, Digital Ocean, and AWS contribute to its performance and reliability. From a security perspective, the website enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks explicit security headers and published security policies, which are recommended to enhance its security posture. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism is a minor compliance gap given GDPR relevance. WHOIS data is unavailable due to registry restrictions, but the website's professionalism and sponsorships strongly indicate legitimacy. Overall, the GNOME website presents a low-risk profile with strong business credibility and technical maturity. Strategic improvements in security policy transparency and privacy compliance would further strengthen trust and resilience.

Detected Technologies

HTML5CSS (Inter font)JavaScriptThree.jsGLTFLoader

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

GNOME is positioned as a cornerstone open source desktop environment widely adopted by major Linux distributions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, and SUSE. Its business model is community-driven and donation-supported, with significant backing from industry leaders like Google, Red Hat, and Canonical. The project targets general computer users, developers, and open source contributors, emphasizing ease of use and developer empowerment. The partnership ecosystem is robust, including infrastructure providers and app marketplaces like Flathub. Growth indicators include active community engagement, continuous releases, and a broad ecosystem of core and third-party applications. GNOME's operations reflect a mature open source governance model with transparent community involvement.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The GNOME website demonstrates a solid security foundation with enforced HTTPS and no visible exposure of sensitive information. However, it lacks several best practices such as security headers (CSP, HSTS), published incident response or security policies, and a vulnerability disclosure program. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism is a compliance gap under GDPR. No known vulnerabilities or malicious indicators were detected in the website content or scripts. The security maturity is moderate to high but could benefit from formalizing security documentation and enhancing privacy controls. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly visible, suggesting room for improvement in transparency and user trust.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and enforce security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

The GNOME Project

Description:

An independent computing platform for everyone offering an easy and elegant way to use your computer with a suite of core apps and a developer platform.

Key Services:
Desktop environment softwareCore applicationsDeveloper platformApp certification and mentoring (GNOME Circle)Community engagement and support
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
HTML5CSS (Inter font)JavaScriptThree.jsGLTFLoader
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by https URLs)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No forms collecting sensitive data on main page

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:excellent

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:excellent

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking detected.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

15/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

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
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
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

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: transport, digital

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

80/100
Score

No DMARC reporting

LOW

DMARC aggregate reports not configured

Strict DMARC Alignment

LOW

Strict alignment may cause legitimate emails to fail

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 a:smtp.gnome.org -all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:default(1296-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

62/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 62 days

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
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

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
28 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(317 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:3.211.39.232, 34.193.1.162
Name Servers:
dns51.cloudns.net
dns52.cloudns.net
dns53.cloudns.net
dns54.cloudns.net
MX Records:
10: smtp.gnome.org
SOA:Serial: 2025090501, TTL: 3600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:86ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 a:smtp.gnome.org -all

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

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built using modern web standards including HTML5, CSS with custom fonts, and JavaScript libraries such as Three.js for 3D graphics. It is optimized for fast loading and mobile responsiveness, with good accessibility features. The site structure is clear and SEO-friendly with appropriate meta tags and Open Graph data. Hosting and infrastructure partnerships with reputable providers contribute to reliability and performance. No CMS or backend technology was explicitly detected, suggesting a static or custom-built site. Technical risks are minimal, but the absence of explicit security headers and privacy controls represents areas for modernization and risk mitigation.
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