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Security report for ascent.software

Ascent · Technology · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

57/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Ascent is a large UK-based technology consulting firm specializing in data, AI, software engineering, and cloud services. The company serves a broad range of industries including insurance, pharma, financial services, and retail, with a strong emphasis on regulated sectors. Their market position is supported by over 530 employees and a portfolio of 2000+ projects across 20+ countries, working with globally recognized brands. Technically, the website leverages modern frameworks such as Bootstrap, Vue.js, and integrates with HubSpot and Google Tag Manager, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. The site is well-optimized for mobile and accessibility, with fast performance and good SEO practices. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and no exposed sensitive data, though there is room for improvement in security headers and incident response disclosures. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but lacking cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the website reflects a professional and trustworthy business with strong technical and market credentials.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 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. 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. 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';…

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

Keep watching ascent.software

This scan found 16 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
50
Email security
62
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
Average
57

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 ascent.software, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for ascent.software 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

Ascent operates as a consulting and services provider focusing on digital transformation through data, AI, and cloud technologies. Their competitive advantage lies in deep domain expertise across multiple regulated industries and strong partnerships, notably with Microsoft. The business model centers on delivering tailored solutions including innovation advisory, software engineering, and cloud migration. Revenue streams likely include consulting fees, managed services, and software development projects. The target customers are enterprises and large organizations seeking advanced digital capabilities. Growth indicators include a large employee base, extensive project history, and multiple Microsoft accreditations. The partnership ecosystem includes strategic alliances with technology leaders, enhancing credibility and market reach.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS and use of integrity attributes on scripts. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options suggests opportunities for enhancement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Incident response and security policies are not publicly disclosed, which could be improved to increase transparency and readiness. Privacy compliance is partial; while a privacy policy is present and GDPR compliance is indicated, cookie consent mechanisms are missing. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and ePrivacy regulations.
  2. Add security headers including Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options to strengthen security posture.
  3. Publish incident response and security policies to improve transparency and preparedness.
  4. Include a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Enhance privacy compliance by detailing data retention policies and providing clear user data rights information.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Ascent
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ascent
Description
We help you connect data, AI, software and cloud to drive extraordinary outcomes for your business. We are a design-led data, software & cloud business that specialises in AI & advanced analytics.
Key services
Data & AI Strategy, Governance & Compliance, Change & Capability, Legacy Modernisation, UX Design, Software Engineering, Cloud Services, Modern Platforms
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 5, Swiper.js, jQuery 3.7.1, Vue.js 2.7.16, Vimeo Player
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
HubSpot (forms), Google Tag Manager
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

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

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
HubSpot
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and content-rich.
  2. Strong focus on data, AI, software engineering, and cloud services.
  3. Good use of client case studies and partner accreditations.
  4. No explicit privacy cookie banner or terms of service found.
  5. No direct company contact emails or phone numbers visible; contact via forms and links.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks.
  7. No signs of security blocking or WAF challenges.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack including Bootstrap 5, Vue.js, and jQuery, integrated with HubSpot for forms and Google Tag Manager for analytics. The use of integrity attributes on scripts and asynchronous loading indicates attention to performance and security. Hosting appears to be on a reliable platform, possibly Microsoft Azure, supported by Microsoft partnership badges. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. No technical debt or deprecated technologies were observed. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and formalize privacy and security policies.
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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