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Security report for alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk

Alcohol Focus Scotland · Non-profit · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

54/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Alcohol Focus Scotland is a well-established national charity dedicated to preventing and reducing alcohol-related harm in Scotland. The organization operates through advocacy, research, public campaigns, and training to influence policy and public behavior. Their market position as a leading non-profit in alcohol harm reduction is supported by clear branding, comprehensive content, and active engagement with stakeholders including policymakers and the public. The website reflects a mature digital presence with good content quality and user experience. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and reCAPTCHA for security and analytics purposes. The use of a custom CMS and Typekit fonts indicates a tailored digital infrastructure. Performance and mobile optimization are good, though some accessibility features could be enhanced. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, but could benefit from additional security headers and published security policies. From a security and compliance perspective, the site demonstrates good privacy practices with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. However, there is no explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure information publicly available. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to a query error but does not detract from the overall legitimacy of the site, which is supported by charity registration and consistent business information. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and secure, serving its mission effectively. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies, and improving accessibility to further strengthen the site’s security and compliance posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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

  3. 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';…

  4. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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 alcohol-focus-scotland.org.uk

This scan found 25 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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Recommended

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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
69
Security headers
35
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
68
Average
54

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

Alcohol Focus Scotland occupies a strong niche as a non-profit charity focused on alcohol harm reduction in Scotland. Their competitive advantage lies in their national recognition, comprehensive campaigns, and policy influence. The business model is based on advocacy, education, research, and public engagement, supported by donations and partnerships. The target customers include the general public, policymakers, health professionals, and communities affected by alcohol harm. Growth indicators include active campaigns and regular news updates. Partnerships with donation platforms like JustGiving and digital agencies support operational effectiveness. The organization maintains a consistent brand and professional online presence, reinforcing trust and credibility.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and use of Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms from abuse. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms indicate compliance with GDPR. However, the absence of explicit security policies, incident response information, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represents a compliance gap. Security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are not detected, which could improve defense in depth. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by formalizing and publishing security governance documents and implementing additional HTTP security headers.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and configure HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a formal security policy and incident response plan on the website to improve transparency and preparedness.
  3. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Enhance website accessibility features to improve usability for all users and comply with accessibility standards.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain compliance with evolving data protection regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Alcohol Focus Scotland
Registration number
SC094096
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Alcohol Focus Scotland
Description
Alcohol Focus Scotland is the national charity working to prevent and reduce alcohol-related harm in Scotland and beyond.
Key services
Advocacy for alcohol harm reduction policies, Campaigns such as Alcohol Free Childhood, Research and policy reports, Training and events, Public information and resources
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA, MooTools JavaScript framework, Custom JavaScript, Typekit Fonts
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Cookie consent banner implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

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 no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professionally presented and focused on alcohol harm reduction.
  3. Strong presence of privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. Contact information is clearly provided with verified company email and phone.
  5. Use of modern tracking and analytics tools with GDPR compliance indicators.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable due to query error but website legitimacy is high.
  7. No visible security vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data.
  8. No terms of service or explicit security policy pages found.
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a custom CMS platform with integration of modern JavaScript libraries such as MooTools and Google services including Analytics and Tag Manager. Fonts are served via Adobe Typekit. The site uses asynchronous loading for scripts to optimize performance. Mobile responsiveness is good, and SEO is supported by proper meta tags and Open Graph data. The site lacks some modern security headers and explicit hosting provider information. Performance is moderate with room for optimization. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but could benefit from modernization in security and accessibility aspects.
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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