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Security report for acf.org.uk

Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) · Non-profit · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and GDPR outside view.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) is a well-established UK non-profit membership association serving foundations and independent grant-makers. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content, including research, events, and member resources. The technical infrastructure is based on ASP.NET with modern analytics and tracking tools integrated, supported by a reputable registrar and hosting environment. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, cookie consent, and no visible vulnerabilities. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the site demonstrates high professionalism and trustworthiness suitable for its sector.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

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

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google Analytics, LinkedIn

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

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

Keep watching acf.org.uk

This scan found 21 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.

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

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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
47
Security headers
65
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
72

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

ACF holds a leading position in the UK philanthropic sector, offering membership services, research, and networking opportunities. Its partnerships with other funder networks and climate initiatives indicate strategic collaboration. The business model is membership-driven, targeting charitable foundations and trusts. The domain age and registration details support the organization's legitimacy and long-term presence. The website content and structure support effective engagement with its target audience.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with secure cookie attributes and integrates monitoring via Microsoft Application Insights and Microsoft Clarity. No security.txt or incident response contacts are published, representing an area for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The cookie consent mechanism is robust, supporting GDPR compliance. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by publishing explicit security policies and vulnerability disclosure information.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated terms of service page to clarify user agreements.
  2. Add a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency.
  3. Consider publishing a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure policy.
  4. Provide direct company contact emails and phone numbers on the website for improved accessibility.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools for privacy compliance and performance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Association of Charitable Foundations
Registration number
5190466
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF)
Description
The Association of Charitable Foundations (ACF) is the leading membership association for foundations and independent grant-makers in the UK. They strengthen trusts and foundations to address social challenges. Their vision is diverse, vibrant and effective foundations working together for social good.
Key services
Membership services, Research and resources, Events and learning, Networking and collaboration, Corporate partnerships
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
ASP.NET Web Forms, Telerik UI controls, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Application Insights, Microsoft Ajax, Azure Application Insights
Frameworks
ASP.NET, AjaxControlToolkit
Platforms
Microsoft IIS (implied by ASP.NET), Azure monitoring endpoints
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner with opt-in/out
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Application Insights for monitoring
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics (via GTM), Microsoft Application Insights, UXtweak
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads (AW-16760687639)
Tracking pixels
Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics (via GTM), UXtweak
Marketing tools
Microsoft Application Insights
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is well-structured and content-rich for a non-profit membership association
  2. Strong use of modern tracking and analytics tools with consent mechanisms
  3. No exposed sensitive data or obvious security flaws detected
  4. No explicit terms of service page found
  5. Contact information is present but no direct emails or phone numbers visible in footer HTML
  6. Multiple partner and related domains linked, indicating active collaboration
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on ASP.NET Web Forms with Telerik UI components and jQuery, indicating a mature but somewhat legacy technology stack. It uses modern analytics and tracking tools such as Microsoft Clarity, Google Tag Manager, and Application Insights. The site is mobile responsive and accessible with good SEO practices. Hosting appears stable with CloudFloorDNS as registrar and likely Microsoft Azure or IIS hosting. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The site uses cookie consent banners and secure cookie attributes, reflecting good privacy practices.
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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