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Security report for balch.com

Balch & Bingham · Energy · United States

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

87/100

Risk levelLow

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

Balch & Bingham LLP is a well-established law firm with over 100 years of service, specializing in highly regulated industries such as Energy, Environmental, Corporate & Commercial, and Litigation. The firm positions itself as a trusted advisor with a strong national presence and recognized expertise, supported by multiple industry awards and rankings. Their website reflects a professional and polished digital presence, incorporating modern technologies and compliance mechanisms such as GDPR-aligned cookie consent. Technically, the site employs reputable third-party services for analytics, consent management, and user feedback, ensuring a robust infrastructure. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and includes user privacy controls, though it lacks a publicly visible security policy or incident response contacts, which could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data for the domain introduces some uncertainty regarding domain registration legitimacy, but the overall brand consistency and external trust signals mitigate this concern. Strategic recommendations include enhancing transparency around security policies and incident response, and verifying domain registration details to strengthen trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 100 · Low
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

1 finding 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

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

Keep watching balch.com

This scan found 12 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

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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
82
Security headers
90
Email security
80
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
87

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

Balch & Bingham operates as a full-service law firm targeting businesses and professionals in regulated sectors, particularly energy and environmental law. Their business model centers on providing expert legal counsel and litigation services, supported by a strong reputation and industry recognition. The firm leverages its long history and award-winning teams to maintain a competitive advantage. Their digital presence supports client engagement through detailed professional profiles, case studies, and a business boost program aimed at emerging businesses. The firm maintains active social media channels to enhance brand visibility and client outreach. Growth indicators include recent hires and media mentions, reflecting expansion and market strengthening. The partnership ecosystem is not explicitly detailed but includes recognized industry affiliations and awards.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, cookie consent management, and an email disclaimer to mitigate unauthorized legal advice risks. However, the lack of a dedicated security policy page and incident response contact information limits transparency and preparedness perception. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The use of third-party scripts is standard but requires ongoing monitoring to prevent supply chain risks. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from enhanced documentation and public-facing security communications to align with best practices and compliance frameworks.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive security policy page detailing security practices and compliance.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information, including abuse and security email addresses.
  3. Implement and enforce security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Verify and publicly confirm domain registration details to improve trust and legitimacy.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Balch & Bingham
Description
Balch is known nationally for its deep knowledge in highly regulated industries including Energy, Environmental, Corporate & Commercial, and Litigation Practices.
Key services
Energy Law, Environmental Law, Corporate & Commercial Law, Litigation
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, Bugherd, Siteimprove, Typekit Fonts, Swiper.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with detailed categories
  • Email disclaimer modal to prevent unauthorized legal advice

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Siteimprove
Marketing tools
Bugherd, OneTrust Cookie Consent
Transparency
good

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 legal services in energy and regulated industries.
  3. Comprehensive cookie consent and privacy mechanisms implemented.
  4. No visible security policy or incident response contact publicly available.
  5. WHOIS data unavailable, which reduces trust score slightly.
  6. No signs of malicious or adult content.
  7. Social media presence is active and consistent with brand.
Technical notes

Notes

The website utilizes a modern technology stack including Google Tag Manager for analytics, OneTrust for cookie consent management, Bugherd for feedback, and Typekit for fonts. The site is well-structured with responsive design and accessibility considerations, ensuring good user experience across devices. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in loading times. SEO practices are evident through meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD) for organization and social profiles. No CMS or hosting provider was explicitly identified from the source. The technical implementation supports the firm's professional image and client engagement goals, though continuous monitoring and optimization are recommended to maintain performance and security.
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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