Internet.nl available as 'ready-to-go' Docker package

November 13, 2023

Today Internet.nl launches a new version of its test tool in the form of a 'ready-to-go' package based on Docker. It makes deploying, developing, testing and scaling the code base much easier. In addition, in this new version, the Referrer-Policy test has been extended to evaluate found policies and several other improvements have been made. Happy testing!

'Ready-to-go' Docker package

Up until now, setting up Internet.nl was challenging and cumbersome. Many times this annoyed ourselves, and also hindered others who wanted to use and contribute to the Internet.nl codebase. Over the last months, the Internet.nl code has been carefully assembled into a 'ready-to-go' software package, i.e. a Docker container.

"We believe this 'containerisation' of Internet.nl is a huge step forward", says Gerben Klein Baltink, chairman of Platform Internet Standards, which is developing Internet.nl. "The 'ready-to-go' package makes using the code more user-friendly for ourselves and for others. This also contributes to the quality of the code."

This new version will make it much easier for others to use the Internet.nl code on their own servers, as aucheck.com.au (Australia), top.nic.br (Brazil) and sikkerpånettet.dk (Denmark) already do. Furthermore, it will make it easier for external developers to contribute code to the project.

More tests

We expect this all will result in more websites, mail servers and connections being tested for modern Internet standards. Not only on our own servers which have run over 5 million tests in the last 12 months, but also on the servers of others. This way we hope to further accelerate the worldwide use of modern Internet standards making the Internet more accessible, safer and more reliable for everyone.

You are very much invited to deploy and use this new version on your own system, as single test version (website) or as batch test version (API). However, please note that if you run the code on a public web server, you may not use the Internet.nl name or logo.

Credits

This project would not have been possible without the support from SIDN Fund. Therefore, we would like to thank them very much!

Extended Referrer-Policy test

The Referrer-Policy test now also checks for a sufficiently secure and privacy-protecting policy value. With this policy your webserver instructs browsers if, what and when referrer data should be sent to the website the user is navigating to from your website.

The data in the Referer header is usually used for analytics and logging. However there can be privacy and security risks. The data could be used e.g. for user tracking and the data could leak to third parties who eavesdrop the connection. To mitigate these risks it is important to set a Referrer-Policy with a sufficiently secure and privacy-protecting policy.

About Internet.nl

The test tool Internet.nl is an initiative of the Dutch Internet Standards Platform which is a collaboration of partners from the Internet community and the Dutch government. The aim of the platform is to jointly increase the use of modern Internet standards to make the Internet more accessible, safer and more reliable for everyone. The software code of Internet.nl is available under an open source license.

Release notes 1.8.0

A new Docker based deployment, development, testing and CI setup has been added to replace all previous processes. See the getting started guide for how to use this.
The test for Referrer-Policy has been updated to check for a sufficiently secure and valid policy.
The security.txt test now checks the Canonical field as well.
Updated to version 0.8.3 of the sectxt library including validation of CSAF fields.
RFC9091 np= is now permitted in DMARC policies.
The Content-Security-Policy check now requires explicit https: scheme and an issue was fixed where 'none' combined with other sources was incorrectly accepted.
The IPv4/IPv6 similarity test was relaxed to a notice when the response contents are different.
Fixed incorrect handling of IPv6-mapped IPv4 addresses in the RPKI test.
Improved attributes in input fields for improved user experience.
Fixed an issue in footer alignment.

This release has API version 2.4.0:

The referrer_policy_errors and referrer_policy_recommendations fields were added. These contain errors and/or recommendations regarding the Referrer-Policy test.