Skip to main content

Security report for ascoeng.com

ASCO Engineering & Surface Technology · Manufacturing · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Network security and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

ASCO Engineering & Surface Technology is a well-established industrial company specializing in surface coating, precision machining, thermal spray coating, and laser cladding services. With over 80 years of experience, the company serves a diverse range of sectors including oil & gas, aerospace, power generation, and renewable energy. The business operates from the UK and Dubai, providing global clients with advanced engineering solutions. Their website reflects a professional and consistent brand image, showcasing key services, client partnerships, and certifications that reinforce their market position. Technically, the website is built on Joomla CMS with modern frameworks such as Gantry5 and Bootstrap, incorporating essential tools like Google Tag Manager and reCAPTCHA for analytics and security. The site is mobile-optimized with good SEO practices, although some accessibility features could be enhanced. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and bot protection, but lacks some recommended security headers and explicit incident response information. The WHOIS data is notably missing or unavailable, which raises some concerns about domain registration transparency. Despite this, the website content and business information appear legitimate and trustworthy. Privacy and cookie policies are well implemented, indicating compliance with GDPR and related regulations. Overall, the site presents a credible business front with room for improvement in security disclosures and WHOIS transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

    • 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 ascoeng.com

This scan found 20 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

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
85
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
53
Average
63

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

ASCO Engineering holds a strong position in the manufacturing and engineering services market, targeting industrial clients requiring precision machining and surface treatment solutions. Their diversified sector coverage and ISO certifications provide competitive advantages. The company leverages a B2B model focusing on quality, safety, and environmental responsibility. The presence of a Dubai subsidiary expands their geographic reach. The website's detailed service descriptions and client logos suggest established partnerships and a commitment to skills development through apprenticeships. Marketing efforts include social media engagement and video content to enhance brand visibility. Growth indicators include recent news updates and career opportunities, signaling active business operations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of Google reCAPTCHA to mitigate automated abuse, and a cookie consent mechanism aligned with privacy regulations. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, and no security.txt file is present for vulnerability disclosures. The WHOIS data absence is a notable gap that impacts trust. Overall, the site is secure for general browsing but could enhance transparency and technical controls to improve resilience and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen browser security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information on the website to improve transparency and preparedness.
  3. Add a security.txt file at the root domain to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  4. Investigate and resolve the missing WHOIS data to improve domain registration transparency and trustworthiness.
  5. Conduct regular third-party script audits and penetration testing to identify and remediate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
ASCO Engineering & Surface Technology Ltd
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ASCO Engineering & Surface Technology
Description
ASCO Engineering specializes in surface coating, precision machining, thermal spray coating, and laser cladding with over 80 years of experience serving global clients across multiple industry sectors.
Key services
CNC Precision Machining, Thermal Spray Coatings, Laser Cladding, Precision Grinding, Fabrication, Temperature Controlled CMM Inspection, Metallurgical Laboratory, Thread Rolling
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Joomla CMS, jQuery, Bootstrap, Gantry5 Framework, Google reCAPTCHA, Google Tag Manager, Font Awesome, Uikit CSS
Frameworks
Gantry5, Bootstrap
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection
  • Cookie consent banner with privacy policy link
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

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 mechanisms detected
  3. WHOIS data unavailable, which is unusual for .com domain
  4. Strong presence of business contact info and policies
  5. Use of modern web technologies and CMS
  6. Good privacy and cookie compliance
  7. No visible security headers detected in HTML source
  8. No forms detected on homepage or main content
  9. Social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
  10. Multiple industry sectors served with detailed service descriptions
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Joomla CMS with Gantry5 and Bootstrap frameworks, utilizing jQuery and Font Awesome for UI components. Google Tag Manager and reCAPTCHA are integrated for analytics and bot protection. The site loads moderate performance resources including video content and multiple CSS/JS files. Mobile optimization is good with responsive design elements. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation. Accessibility is basic but could be improved with ARIA roles and enhanced keyboard navigation. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and functional user experience with opportunities for modernization and security hardening.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with ascoeng.com. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review ascoeng.com.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.