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Security report for activatedesign.co.nz

Activate Design Limited · Technology · New Zealand

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Activate Design Limited is a well-established website design and graphic design agency based in Christchurch, New Zealand, operating since 2003. The company offers a broad range of digital services including website development, logo and graphic design, app development, SEO, web hosting, and related marketing services. They position themselves as a market leader in New Zealand, supported by BuiltWith® awards and a strong portfolio of client work and testimonials. Their target audience primarily consists of businesses and organizations seeking professional digital branding and web solutions. Technically, the website employs modern tracking and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager and Facebook Pixel, and uses a custom-developed CMS, indicating a mature technical infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized and well-structured, providing a good user experience. Security-wise, the site uses HTTPS and secure forms but lacks important security headers and published security policies, which are areas for improvement. Privacy compliance is limited, with no visible privacy or cookie policies or consent mechanisms, representing a compliance gap. Overall, the website is professional and trustworthy, but the absence of WHOIS data and privacy policies slightly reduce the trust score.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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';…

  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

      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

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter, Google APIs

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

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

Keep watching activatedesign.co.nz

This scan found 24 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
75
Security headers
50
Email security
55
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
63

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 company holds a strong market position in New Zealand's digital agency sector, evidenced by third-party analytics and awards. Their business model is service-oriented, focusing on delivering comprehensive digital branding and web solutions. Revenue streams likely derive from project-based website and graphic design services, ongoing hosting and support contracts, and digital marketing offerings. The company targets small to medium businesses and organizations in New Zealand, particularly in Christchurch. Their portfolio and client testimonials indicate a focus on quality and client satisfaction, which supports growth and reputation. The absence of WHOIS data may be due to domain privacy or registry policies but should be monitored. The company maintains active social media profiles and uses modern marketing tools, indicating a proactive approach to client engagement and lead generation.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and forms require validation, reducing common risks. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces protection against common web attacks. No published security or incident response policies are found, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files exist, limiting transparency and readiness for security incidents. Privacy compliance is weak, with no visible cookie consent or privacy policy, which could expose the company to regulatory risks under GDPR or similar laws. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a small agency but could be significantly improved with standard best practices and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with explicit consent mechanisms to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  2. Add standard security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Strict-Transport-Security) to enhance web security.
  3. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and preparedness.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly review WHOIS information and domain registration details to ensure consistency and transparency.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Activate Design Limited
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Activate Design Limited
Description
Activate has been a leading website design, graphic & logo design agency in Christchurch since 2003. Experienced, Reliable, Affordable. Talk to us first!
Key services
Website Design, Graphic Design, Logo Design, App Development, Web Hosting, SEO, Print Work, Animated Video, Email Marketing, Tech Support
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Vimeo Player API, Elfsight Widgets, Google Fonts (Montserrat, Poppins)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Secure forms with required fields
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Facebook Pixel, Elfsight Widgets
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed with rich content and clear navigation.
  2. No WHOIS data available for domain, which is unusual but may be due to NZ domain registry policies.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policy found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. Contact information is comprehensive and clearly presented.
  5. Security headers are not detected; opportunity for improvement.
  6. Uses modern tracking and marketing tools but lacks explicit cookie consent.
  7. Strong portfolio and client testimonials enhance trust.
  8. No signs of adult or questionable content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom-developed CMS, which can provide flexibility but requires ongoing maintenance and security vigilance. The tech stack includes modern JavaScript libraries and integrations with Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Vimeo API, and Elfsight widgets, indicating a well-integrated marketing and analytics infrastructure. The site loads multiple CSS and JS resources asynchronously, supporting performance optimization. Mobile optimization is good, and the site uses Google Fonts for typography. However, accessibility features appear basic and could be enhanced. No major technical debt or outdated technologies were detected, but the absence of security headers and privacy compliance features represent technical and compliance risks. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified from the content. Overall, the technical implementation is solid but can benefit from security and compliance enhancements.
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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