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Is mastodon.social a Scam? Security Check Results - Mastodon gGmbH Reviews

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Is mastodon.social Safe? Security Analysis for Mastodon gGmbH

Check if mastodon.social is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyN/alarge
Ruby on RailsReactWebpackJavaScript ES ModulesService Workers+1 more
Analyzed 9/4/2025Completed 11:51:32 PM
75
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Mastodon.social is the original and one of the largest servers in the Mastodon federated social network, operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit organization. It provides a decentralized social media platform that emphasizes user control, privacy, and an ad-free experience. The platform targets a broad audience interested in open-source and federated social networking. Technically, the site employs modern web technologies including Ruby on Rails and React, with a well-structured frontend and backend architecture. The site is performant, mobile-optimized, and accessible, with good SEO practices. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS, uses strong security headers, and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks some compliance features such as cookie consent and explicit terms of service. Overall, the domain is privacy protected but aligns with the legitimate non-profit Mastodon entity, indicating high trustworthiness.

Detected Technologies

Ruby on RailsReactWebpackJavaScript ES ModulesService WorkersWebSockets

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Mastodon.social holds a strong market position as the flagship Mastodon server, serving a large active user base (268K monthly active users). Its non-profit business model focuses on community-driven development and open-source principles. The platform's competitive advantage lies in its decentralized nature, absence of ads, and strong community support. Revenue streams are likely limited to donations and sponsorships. The target customers are privacy-conscious social media users and open-source advocates. The ecosystem includes partnerships with other federated services and open-source contributors. Strategic observations include the importance of maintaining trust and transparency to sustain growth and community engagement.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Email Addresses (1)

l*****@med-mastodon.comThe

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The security posture of Mastodon.social is strong, with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities in the provided content. The site follows best practices such as script integrity checks and minimal data exposure. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represents a compliance gap. The platform appears GDPR compliant with a comprehensive privacy policy but lacks cookie consent mechanisms. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not explicitly visible but can be inferred as mature given the platform's reputation. Overall, the security maturity is high but could be improved with formalized policies and disclosures.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement a cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Mastodon gGmbH

Description:

The original server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit

Key Services:
Decentralized social networkingFederated microbloggingUser profile directory
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Ruby on RailsReactWebpackJavaScript ES ModulesService WorkersWebSockets
Frameworks:
Ruby on RailsReact
Platforms:
FediverseMastodon
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
90/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of integrity attributes on scripts and stylesheets
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

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 fully accessible with rich content and active user posts.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

80/100
Score

Weak X-XSS-Protection configuration

LOW

Current value: "0"

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

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

85/100
Score

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:quarantine
Subdomain Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:re+qkqn5debzpq@dmarc.postmarkapp.com

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

85/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 45 days

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:mastodon.social
Issuer:R10
Valid Until:10/20/2025 (45 days)
SANs:files.mastodon.social, mastodon.social, www.mastodon.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:151.101.65.91, 151.101.193.91, 151.101.1.91, 151.101.129.91
AAAA Records:2a04:4e42::347, 2a04:4e42:c00::347, 2a04:4e42:600::347, 2a04:4e42:200::347, 2a04:4e42:a00::347, 2a04:4e42:e00::347, 2a04:4e42:800::347, 2a04:4e42:400::347
Name Servers:
ns1.exoscale.chDNS only
ns1.exoscale.comDNS only
ns1.exoscale.ioDNS only
ns1.exoscale.netDNS only
MX Records:
1: smtp.google.com
SOA:Serial: 1579114425, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:31ms

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 uses a modern tech stack with Ruby on Rails backend and React frontend, leveraging ES modules and Webpack for efficient asset management. The site is well-optimized for performance and mobile devices, with good accessibility features. The use of integrity attributes on scripts and stylesheets enhances security. No CMS is detected, indicating a custom-built platform. Hosting provider details are not explicit but the site uses a dedicated domain with strong SSL configuration. Technical risks are minimal, with no visible deprecated or vulnerable libraries. Opportunities exist to improve compliance-related technical implementations such as cookie consent and security policy automation.
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