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Security report for acarchaeology.co.uk

AC Archaeology · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

64/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

AC Archaeology is a specialized service provider offering expert archaeological and heritage consulting services aimed at balancing modern development with the preservation and understanding of historic environments. The company targets professionals and organizations involved in heritage and development projects within the United Kingdom. The website is built on the Squarespace platform, featuring a professional design with good mobile optimization and clear navigation. Technical infrastructure includes modern web technologies and security features such as HTTPS and HSTS, with Google reCAPTCHA implemented for form security. However, the domain WHOIS data is unavailable and indicates the domain is not officially registered, which raises concerns about domain legitimacy despite the professional website content. Privacy and cookie policies are absent, and no direct contact information is provided, limiting transparency and compliance. Overall, the website presents a moderate risk profile with room for improvement in compliance and trust indicators.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

  2. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching acarchaeology.co.uk

This scan found 28 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
54
Security headers
45
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
64

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The business operates in a niche market focused on archaeological excavations and heritage consulting, serving clients who require expert services to manage historic environment considerations during development projects. The business model is service-oriented, likely generating revenue through consulting and project work. The website's social media presence on Instagram and LinkedIn suggests efforts to engage with professional audiences. The lack of detailed business registration information and absence of privacy and cookie policies may impact credibility and client trust. There is no evidence of partnerships or subsidiaries from the website content. The company appears to be small in size, with a focused market position in the UK heritage sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security posture with HTTPS enforced and HSTS enabled, which protects data in transit. The use of Google reCAPTCHA helps mitigate automated abuse on forms. However, the absence of additional security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense in depth. No incident response or security contact information is provided, which is a gap in security readiness. The lack of privacy and cookie policies also indicates incomplete compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to improve GDPR compliance.
  2. Add security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to enhance security posture.
  3. Provide clear contact information for security incidents and general inquiries to increase transparency and trust.
  4. Verify and register the domain properly with accurate WHOIS information to resolve legitimacy concerns.
  5. Regularly review and update website content and security configurations to maintain professional standards and compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Registration number
06577828
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
AC Archaeology
Description
AC Archaeology offers expert archaeological services, including excavations and heritage consulting, preserving history while supporting modern development.
Key services
Archaeological excavations, Heritage consulting, Historic environment recording
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Squarespace, Google reCAPTCHA, Typekit Fonts, Google Fonts
Platforms
Squarespace
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • HSTS enabled
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google reCAPTCHA
Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is hosted on Squarespace platform with professional design.
  2. No WHOIS registration data available; domain appears unregistered or invalid.
  3. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the site.
  4. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in the content.
  5. Social media presence includes Instagram and LinkedIn profiles linked.
  6. Security best practices partially implemented with HTTPS and HSTS.
  7. No visible security or incident response contact information.
  8. No advertising or analytics services beyond Google reCAPTCHA detected.
  9. Content is relevant to archaeology and heritage consulting services.
  10. No adult or questionable content detected; safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Squarespace CMS platform, leveraging modern web technologies including Google Fonts, Typekit, and Google reCAPTCHA. The site loads with moderate performance and is optimized for mobile devices. SEO is supported through proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Accessibility features are basic but present. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, but there is an opportunity to improve security headers and privacy compliance. Hosting is managed by Squarespace, which provides reliable infrastructure but limits some customization. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional online presence but requires enhancements in security and compliance areas.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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