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Security report for aeo.org.uk

Association of Event Organisers · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Association of Event Organisers (AEO) is a UK-based premier trade association dedicated to companies involved in creating, developing, and managing trade and consumer events. The organization is member-run and led by an elected council, emphasizing industry collaboration and support. The website reflects a mature digital presence with a focus on member services, industry news, events, and partnerships with sister associations such as the Events Industry Alliance (EIA). Technically, the site employs modern JavaScript libraries, Google Analytics, and a cookie consent management system, indicating a moderate to advanced digital infrastructure. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS usage and cookie consent mechanisms, though explicit security headers and privacy policies are not clearly presented in the analyzed content. The WHOIS data for the queried subdomain www.aeo.org.uk is unavailable due to domain naming rules, but the website content and branding strongly suggest legitimacy. Overall, the site serves as a professional and trusted resource for the UK events industry.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of aeo.org.uk. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 100 · Low
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

3 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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. 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

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

Keep watching aeo.org.uk

This scan found 22 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
67
Security headers
40
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
73

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention aeo.org.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for aeo.org.uk right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

AEO holds a strong market position as the leading UK trade association for event organizers, providing advocacy, networking, and industry resources. Its business model revolves around membership services, industry events, and collaborative working groups. The organization benefits from strategic partnerships with sister associations, enhancing its influence and reach. The website content highlights ongoing initiatives such as Martyn's Law and industry scams awareness, reflecting responsiveness to current sector challenges. The presence of recruitment and sustainability hubs indicates a focus on talent and ESG issues. The partnership ecosystem includes recognized industry players, supporting AEO's credibility and growth potential.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a baseline security posture with HTTPS and a comprehensive cookie consent banner that categorizes cookies and allows user customization. However, the absence of visible security headers like Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options and lack of explicit privacy and security policies reduce the overall security maturity. No direct contact channels for incident response or vulnerability disclosure were found, which could hinder timely security communication. The use of third-party scripts and analytics tools necessitates ongoing monitoring for vulnerabilities. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could be improved by adopting best practices and transparency measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service pages accessible from the homepage.
  2. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Provide clear contact information for security incidents, including a security@ or abuse@ email address and consider publishing a security.txt file.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and GDPR compliance to build user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Association of Event Organisers
Description
The Association of Event Organisers is the UK’s premier trade association for companies that create, develop, and manage trade and consumer events. AEO is member-run and member-focused, and is led by an elected council.
Key services
Member representation, Industry support and advocacy, Working groups and councils, Events and conferences, Research and resources
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.5.1, jQuery Migrate 3.5.2, ScriptJS, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, CookieYes Consent Management, FontAwesome, ASP.events SHOWOFF CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • Cookie consent banner with customization and rejection options
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by base href and external scripts)
  • No exposed sensitive data detected in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics (CFID, CFTOKEN cookies)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
doubleclick.net
Tracking pixels
LinkedIn Insight Tag
Marketing tools
LinkedIn Insight Tag
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation
  2. No WAF or blocking detected
  3. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented with detailed categories
  4. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service pages found in provided content
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML content
  6. Use of modern JavaScript libraries and Google Analytics for tracking
  7. Partnerships with sister associations and industry groups clearly presented
  8. WHOIS data incomplete due to querying subdomain rather than registered domain
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the SHOWOFF CMS by ASP.events and uses a modern JavaScript stack including jQuery and ScriptJS. It integrates Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for tracking and marketing purposes. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA roles. Performance is moderate, with video content and multiple external scripts that may impact load times. The cookie consent mechanism is robust and user-friendly. Hosting details are not explicit, but CDN usage is evident. Technical debt appears low, though improvements in security headers and privacy documentation are recommended to reduce risk.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 66/100Medium32 findingsView report
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