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Is indiehackers.com a Scam? Security Check Results - Indie Hackers Reviews

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Is indiehackers.com Safe? Security Analysis for Indie Hackers

Check if indiehackers.com is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyN/amedium
Ember.jsFirebaseStripeAmplitude AnalyticsAlgolia+3 more
Analyzed 10/3/2025Completed 9:04:03 PM
66
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Indie Hackers is a well-established online community platform focused on developers and entrepreneurs building profitable online businesses. It offers a rich ecosystem of content, forums, idea boards, and premium subscription services, positioning itself as a niche leader in the indie startup space. The platform leverages modern web technologies including Ember.js, Firebase, and Google Cloud services, ensuring a robust and scalable technical infrastructure. Analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, Amplitude, and ConvertKit are integrated to support user engagement and growth. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, comprehensive security headers, and cookie consent mechanisms, although explicit vulnerability disclosure and incident response information are not publicly available. Overall, the website demonstrates high professionalism, excellent content quality, and good privacy compliance, making it a trustworthy resource for its target audience.

Detected Technologies

Ember.jsFirebaseStripeAmplitude AnalyticsAlgoliaMapboxCloud Functions (Google Cloud)OneTrust (cookie consent)

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Indie Hackers operates in the technology sector, targeting indie developers and startup founders seeking community support and business insights. Its business model includes free community access supplemented by a premium subscription (IH+) offering additional features and credits. The platform's market position is strong within its niche, supported by active user engagement and a diverse set of services including job listings and meetups. The absence of public WHOIS data suggests privacy protection, which is justified for this type of community platform. The company maintains a consistent brand and leverages partnerships with reputable service providers for payments and analytics. Growth indicators include frequent content updates and a vibrant user base.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of Content Security Policy, and other standard security headers. Cookie consent is managed via OneTrust, indicating GDPR compliance efforts. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of a publicly accessible security policy or incident response contact limits transparency. The absence of a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure program is a potential area for improvement. Overall, the platform follows best practices for web security but could enhance its security culture by providing explicit security communication channels.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Indie Hackers

Description:

Connect with developers sharing the strategies and revenue numbers behind their companies and side projects.

Key Services:
Community forumsContent articles and interviewsIdea boardPremium subscription (IH+)Job listingsMeetups and partnerships
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Ember.jsFirebaseStripeAmplitude AnalyticsAlgoliaMapboxCloud Functions (Google Cloud)OneTrust (cookie consent)
Frameworks:
Ember.js
Platforms:
FirebaseGoogle Cloud
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
90/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CSP
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of reputable third-party services

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsAmplitude AnalyticsApp City Analytics
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Amplitude AnalyticsApp City Analytics
Marketing Tools:
ConvertKitZapier
Transparency Level:good

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 community features

🛡️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

88/100
Score

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️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

📧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:_spf.google.com include:spf.mtasv.net ~all
DNS Lookups:2/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Subdomain Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:re+nifmeiaekn1@dmarc.postmarkapp.com

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

65/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 65 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:www.indiehackers.com
Issuer:WE1
Valid Until:12/8/2025 (65 days)
SANs:www.indiehackers.com

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

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
10 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(180 days)
Protection Level
strongDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:104.26.12.75, 104.26.13.75, 172.67.71.1
AAAA Records:2606:4700:20::681a:d4b, 2606:4700:20::681a:c4b, 2606:4700:20::ac43:4701
Name Servers:
adi.ns.cloudflare.com
nitin.ns.cloudflare.com
MX Records:
1: aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt4.aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:spf.mtasv.net ~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 on a modern technology stack centered around Ember.js for frontend, Firebase and Google Cloud for backend services, and integrates third-party services such as Stripe for payments and Algolia for search. Performance is optimized with CDN usage and asynchronous loading of analytics scripts. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical risks are minimal, but ongoing maintenance of dependencies and security configurations is essential to sustain operational stability.
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