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Is joinmastodon.org a Scam? Security Check Results - Mastodon gGmbH Reviews

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Is joinmastodon.org Safe? Security Analysis for Mastodon gGmbH

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

TechnologyGermanysmall
ReactNext.jsJavaScriptWebP imagesSVG graphics
Analyzed 9/4/2025Completed 11:23:17 PM
72
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Mastodon gGmbH operates joinmastodon.org, a leading decentralized social media platform emphasizing user control, privacy, and open-source principles. Founded in 2017 and based in Germany, the organization is a non-profit entity sustaining development through donations and sponsorships. The platform enables users to connect across independent servers, fostering a federated social network free from corporate control and advertising. Technically, the website leverages modern frameworks such as Next.js and React, hosted on Exoscale infrastructure, delivering a fast, mobile-optimized, and accessible user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and domain transfer protections, though DNSSEC is not enabled and some security policies are not publicly documented. Privacy compliance is good with a comprehensive privacy policy, but lacks a cookie consent mechanism and explicit terms of service. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-positioned in the decentralized social media market.

Detected Technologies

ReactNext.jsJavaScriptWebP imagesSVG graphics

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Mastodon gGmbH holds a unique market position as a pioneer in decentralized social networking, targeting privacy-conscious users and communities seeking autonomy from centralized platforms. Its business model is non-profit, relying on community donations via Patreon and direct payments, supported by partnerships with hosting providers and payment processors. The platform's open-source nature encourages community contributions and transparency, enhancing trust and innovation. The company maintains a small organizational size with a focused technology sector presence. Strategic partnerships with Mastodon servers and hosting services strengthen its ecosystem. Growth indicators include a broad multilingual website and active community testimonials. The absence of direct contact emails suggests a preference for controlled communication channels, likely to manage community interactions effectively.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Email Addresses (12)

t*****@mastodon.social
j*****@pixel.kitchen
d*****@mastodon.social
u*****@bonn.social
j*****@toot.wales
+7 more emails found

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain registration secured by clientTransferProhibited status. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which could be improved to mitigate DNS spoofing risks. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts are published, indicating a potential gap in transparency and readiness communication. The absence of exposed sensitive data and use of modern web technologies reduce vulnerability exposure. No vulnerable libraries or insecure forms were detected in the HTML content. Privacy compliance is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy aligned with GDPR. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced policy disclosures and DNS security enhancements.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Enable DNSSEC on the domain to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Mastodon gGmbH

Description:

Free and open-source decentralized social media platform developed by a non-profit organization.

Key Services:
Decentralized social networkingOpen-source softwareServer hosting and federationCommunity moderation tools
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
ReactNext.jsJavaScriptWebP imagesSVG graphics
Frameworks:
Next.js
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Datadog
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

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.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

65/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "origin-when-cross-origin"

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

📧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:helpscoutemail.com ~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+o0lrkfqmq6a@dmarc.postmarkapp.com

🏆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 83 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:joinmastodon.org
Issuer:R13
Valid Until:11/27/2025 (83 days)
SANs:api.joinmastodon.org, joinmastodon.org, proxy.joinmastodon.org +1 more

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

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
8 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
none(1308 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:151.101.1.91, 151.101.65.91, 151.101.129.91, 151.101.193.91
AAAA Records:2a04:4e42:600::347, 2a04:4e42:e00::347, 2a04:4e42:800::347, 2a04:4e42:400::347, 2a04:4e42:a00::347, 2a04:4e42::347, 2a04:4e42:200::347, 2a04:4e42:c00::347
Name Servers:
ns1.exoscale.ch
ns1.exoscale.com
ns1.exoscale.io
ns1.exoscale.net
MX Records:
1: smtp.google.com
SOA:Serial: 1673628173, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:70ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:helpscoutemail.com ~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 Next.js and React, indicating a modern and scalable frontend architecture. Hosting on Exoscale suggests reliable cloud infrastructure. The site uses optimized image formats (WebP) and SVGs for graphics, contributing to fast load times and responsive design. Accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA attributes are present, enhancing usability. SEO is supported by comprehensive meta tags, Open Graph data, and multilingual hreflang tags. No CMS was detected, implying a custom or framework-based content management approach. The technical implementation is robust with no visible technical debt or deprecated technologies. Opportunities exist to improve DNS security and formalize security documentation.
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