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Security report for arqgroup.com

ARQ · Finance · Malta

High risk. 7 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

45/100

Risk levelHigh

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

ARQ Group is a Malta-based professional services organization specializing in corporate advisory, tax, compliance, licensing, accounting, and investment migration services. With over 20 years of experience, ARQ positions itself as a comprehensive partner for businesses seeking to establish and grow in Malta, particularly in sectors such as financial services and iGaming. The website reflects a mature business with a clear market position and a broad service offering tailored to local and international clients. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using the Divi theme, incorporating modern JavaScript libraries and Google Tag Manager for analytics. The site demonstrates good SEO practices, mobile optimization, and a professional design, although accessibility features could be enhanced. Performance is moderate, with no critical technical issues detected. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and includes some security headers, with no exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries identified. However, it lacks a visible cookie consent mechanism and published security or incident response policies, which are recommended for compliance and trust. The domain registration data aligns well with the business claims, indicating a legitimate and established entity. Overall, ARQ Group's website presents a professional and trustworthy digital presence with minor areas for improvement in privacy compliance and security transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
40/ 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

7 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

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

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

    • 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

  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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  3. 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: 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

  4. 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';…

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

Keep watching arqgroup.com

This scan found 17 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.

Daily monitoring

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
0
Security headers
60
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
40
Average
45

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

ARQ Group operates in the professional services sector with a focus on Malta's corporate, tax, compliance, and advisory markets. Its competitive advantage lies in its integrated multidisciplinary team and over two decades of experience. The business model centers on providing end-to-end services for company incorporation, administration, risk management, and migration programs. The target customers include local and international businesses, especially in regulated sectors like iGaming and financial services. Growth indicators include active content marketing, social media engagement, and partnerships with training and hosting providers. The company maintains a consistent brand and leverages testimonials to build trust.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and some security headers present. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were found. However, the absence of a cookie consent banner and published security policies indicates gaps in privacy compliance and incident readiness. There is no evidence of a vulnerability disclosure program or dedicated security contact channels. The use of Google Tag Manager introduces moderate user tracking, which should be transparently disclosed. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved by formalizing policies and enhancing privacy mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a GDPR-compliant cookie consent banner to inform users and obtain consent for tracking.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan accessible from the website footer or legal section.
  3. Create and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance website accessibility features to meet WCAG standards for broader user inclusivity.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and analytics tools to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
ARQ
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ARQ
Description
ARQ Group is a professional services organisation based in Malta providing corporate advisory, tax, compliance, licensing, accounting, risk and compliance, advisory, and investment migration services to local and international clients.
Key services
Corporate Services, Risk & Compliance, Accounting, Advisory, Tax, Investment Migration, People & Performance
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Divi Theme, jQuery, MediaElement.js, Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
WordPress, Divi
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

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 and content-rich.
  2. Strong focus on corporate, tax, compliance, and advisory services in Malta.
  3. Good use of structured data and SEO best practices.
  4. No visible security or privacy policy gaps except missing cookie consent banner.
  5. Active social media presence with consistent branding.
  6. No signs of WAF or blocking mechanisms.
  7. No exposed vulnerabilities or sensitive data found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using the Divi theme and child theme, leveraging jQuery and MediaElement.js for media playback. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and tracking. The site includes structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO enhancement and Open Graph tags for social media integration. Hosting provider details are not explicitly disclosed. Performance is moderate with some heavy media content (videos, images) but generally optimized for desktop and mobile. The site lacks a cookie consent mechanism and some advanced accessibility features. Technical debt appears low, but ongoing maintenance of plugins and scripts is recommended to ensure security and performance.
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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