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Is php.net a Scam? Security Check Results - The PHP Group Reviews

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Is php.net Safe? Security Analysis for The PHP Group

Check if php.net is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyN/alarge
PHPMatomo AnalyticsFont AwesomeFira FontsCSS3+1 more
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 3:31:31 PM
68
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The PHP website represents the official online presence of The PHP Group, the steward of the PHP programming language. It serves a global audience of developers and organizations relying on PHP for web development. The site provides comprehensive resources including downloads, documentation, news updates, and community engagement opportunities. The business model is centered on open source software development supported by a foundation and community contributions, positioning PHP as a leading server-side scripting language worldwide. Technically, the website employs modern web standards with a clean, responsive design optimized for performance and accessibility. It uses technologies such as PHP itself, Matomo analytics configured for privacy, and popular web fonts and icon sets. The site demonstrates good SEO practices and a well-structured navigation system, enhancing user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and integrates privacy-conscious analytics. It publicly discloses results of recent security audits and encourages users to upgrade to secure versions. However, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and cookie consent mechanisms are not visibly implemented, representing areas for improvement. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with minor gaps in privacy compliance and security hardening. The absence of WHOIS data for the queried subdomain is noted but does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing incident response information to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Detected Technologies

PHPMatomo AnalyticsFont AwesomeFira FontsCSS3HTML5

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

PHP.net is a cornerstone resource in the web development ecosystem, maintained by The PHP Group. Its market position as the primary source for PHP language releases and documentation is undisputed. The site supports a broad developer community and enterprise users, offering timely updates, security advisories, and educational content. Revenue streams are indirect, primarily through sponsorships, donations, and foundation support. The partnership ecosystem includes security audit organizations and open source foundations, reinforcing PHP's sustainability. Growth indicators include active release cycles and community events. Operationally, the site balances open source transparency with professional governance, fostering trust and adoption.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Email Addresses (1)

c*****@thephp.foundation

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The PHP website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, privacy-respecting analytics, and public security audit disclosures. Best practices such as disabling tracking cookies and honoring DoNotTrack signals are implemented. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and lack of a visible cookie consent mechanism are notable gaps. Incident response and security policy pages are not prominently available, limiting transparency. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from enhanced header policies and formalized vulnerability disclosure mechanisms to align with industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement explicit security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

The PHP Group

Description:

PHP is a popular general-purpose scripting language that powers everything from blogs to the most popular websites in the world.

Key Services:
PHP language releases and downloadsDocumentation and tutorialsCommunity involvement and supportSecurity advisories and updates
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
PHPMatomo AnalyticsFont AwesomeFira FontsCSS3HTML5
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Security audit publicly disclosed
  • Use of Matomo with DoNotTrack and cookie disabled

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Matomo
Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Matomo
Marketing Tools:
Matomo Analytics
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 recent news updates

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

40/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

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

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

73/100
Score

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 Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
emailphone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

22/100
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

📧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 ip4:140.211.15.143 ip4:45.112.84.5 ip4:142.93.197.176 ip6:2604:a880:400:d0::1c74:1001 ip6:2a02:cb43:8000::1102 ip4:157.90.121.187 ip6:2a01:4f8:1c1e:416d::1 ~all
DNS Lookups:0/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:mail(1496-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:dmarc@php.net

🏆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 78 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

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

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

26 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:*.php.net
Issuer:E7
Valid Until:11/23/2025 (78 days)
SANs:*.php.net, php.net

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

DNS Records

A Records:185.85.0.29
AAAA Records:2a02:cb40:200::1ad
Name Servers:
dns1.easydns.comDNS only
dns2.easydns.netDNS only
dns3.easydns.orgDNS only
dns4.easydns.infoDNS only
MX Records:
0: php-smtp4-ip4.php.net
SOA:Serial: 1756474642, TTL: 2560s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:87ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 ip4:140.211.15.143 ip4:45.112.84.5 ip4:142.93.197.176 ip6:2604:a880:400:d0::1c74:1001 ip6:2a02:cb43:8000::1102 ip4:157.90.121.187 ip6:2a01:4f8:1c1e:416d::1 ~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 tech stack leveraging PHP, CSS3, HTML5, and web fonts for a responsive and accessible user interface. It integrates Matomo analytics configured to respect user privacy by disabling cookies and honoring DoNotTrack. The site loads efficiently with optimized assets and clear navigation. No CMS or third-party hosting provider was explicitly identified. The technical implementation reflects low technical debt and good modernization practices. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and implement cookie consent for enhanced compliance and user trust.
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