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Security report for appliedgeology.co.uk

Applied Geology · Energy · United Kingdom

High risk. 12 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

36/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Applied Geology is a UK-based specialist company providing geotechnical and contaminated land ground investigation and consultancy services primarily to property, civil engineering, geotechnical, and environmental sectors. Operating from offices in Warwick and Warrington, the company offers a broad range of services including desk studies, ground investigations, risk assessments, and remediation strategies. The website content reflects a professional but somewhat dated digital presence with basic design and navigation. Technical infrastructure relies on legacy technologies such as the older Google Analytics ga.js script, and there is no evidence of modern CMS or advanced frameworks. Security posture is moderate but lacks visible HTTPS enforcement and security headers, and no privacy or cookie policies are present, indicating gaps in compliance and user data protection. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to domain naming rules violation, which raises concerns about domain legitimacy and transparency. Overall, the website is functional and informative but would benefit from modernization and improved security and privacy practices.

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

12 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.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: Telnet

      Port 23 (Telnet) is publicly accessible - Telnet - Unencrypted remote access

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to Telnet using firewall or VPN

      • 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
    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • 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. 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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';…

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Keep watching appliedgeology.co.uk

This scan found 31 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
27
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
36

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 · found on this site
  • 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

Applied Geology positions itself as a niche service provider in the geotechnical and environmental investigation market within the UK. Its competitive advantage lies in specialized expertise and regional presence with two offices. The business model is service-oriented, targeting professional clients in property development, civil engineering, and environmental sectors. Revenue streams likely derive from consultancy and ground investigation contracts. The company maintains trust signals such as ISO 9001 certification and membership in the AGS. However, the lack of detailed company registration information and absence of privacy and security policies online may limit trust for new clients. The partnership ecosystem includes recognized industry bodies but no visible strategic partners or subsidiaries. Growth indicators are not evident from the website content.

Security posture

The security maturity level of the website is basic. There is no visible HTTPS enforcement or security headers in the provided HTML content, which is a significant gap. The use of an outdated Google Analytics script suggests technical debt and potential vulnerabilities. No forms or input fields are present, reducing attack surface, but also limiting user engagement. The absence of privacy and cookie policies indicates non-compliance with GDPR and related regulations. Incident response and security contact information are not provided, which could delay handling of security issues. Overall, the site lacks modern security best practices and would benefit from implementing HTTPS, security headers, updated analytics, and clear privacy and security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTPS with HSTS and add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  2. Update analytics implementation to the latest Google Analytics version (GA4) and ensure privacy compliance with cookie consent mechanisms.
  3. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies aligned with GDPR requirements.
  4. Add a security policy page and provide incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Modernize website design with mobile responsiveness and accessibility improvements to enhance user experience and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Applied Geology
Description
Applied Geology specialises in high quality geotechnical and contaminated land ground investigation and professional services to property, civil, geotechnical and environmental sectors throughout the UK, operating from offices in Warwick and Warrington.
Key services
Phase I Desk Studies, Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Ground Investigations, Mineworking Appraisals, Geotechnical Appraisals, Earthworks Appraisals & Supervision, Monitoring, Sampling and Testing Gases, Groundwater & Soil, Contaminated Land Appraisals, Human Health Risk Assessments, Groundwater Risk Assessments, Remediation Strategies – Design, Supervision, Validation
Content quality
basic
Branding
moderate

Technology

Stack
HTML4/HTML5, JavaScript, Google Analytics
Performance
moderate
Mobile
poor
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
50/100
Good practices seen
  • No visible forms collecting sensitive data
  • No exposed credentials or sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (legacy ga.js)
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is accessible with full content and no blocking detected.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the site.
  3. Contact information is present but limited to email and phone in footer.
  4. No forms detected on the homepage or main content.
  5. Use of legacy Google Analytics script indicates outdated tracking implementation.
  6. No HTTPS enforcement or security headers visible in provided data.
  7. WHOIS data is missing due to domain naming rules violation, impacting trust.
  8. Site branding is moderate but lacks modern design and mobile optimization.
  9. Certifications and memberships are displayed, supporting business credibility.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses basic HTML and JavaScript with no detected CMS or modern frameworks. The presence of legacy Google Analytics ga.js indicates outdated tracking technology. No advanced hosting or platform information is available. Performance is moderate but mobile optimization is poor. Accessibility features are minimal. SEO optimization is basic with limited meta tags and no structured data. The site lacks modern technical enhancements such as responsive design or progressive web app features. Technical debt is evident and modernization would improve both user experience and security posture.
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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