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Security report for bishopspalace.org.uk

The Bishops Palace · Hospitality · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Bishop's Palace website represents an established heritage attraction located in Wells, Somerset, featuring an 800-year-old medieval palace and 14 acres of RHS Partner gardens. The site targets families, tourists, and heritage enthusiasts, offering tours, re-enactment events, and an award-winning café. The business operates primarily in the hospitality and non-profit sectors, leveraging its historical significance and garden partnership to attract visitors. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using the Divi theme and Yoast SEO plugin, integrating modern marketing and analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and Mailerlite. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and SEO practices, though accessibility features are basic. Hosting is provided by Heart Internet Limited, a reputable registrar and hosting provider. From a security perspective, the website employs HTTPS with good SSL configuration and security headers, including Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security. The use of reCAPTCHA indicates attention to bot mitigation. However, the absence of explicit privacy policies, terms of service, and incident response information represents compliance and transparency gaps. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-positioned within its niche. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance documentation and security policy transparency would enhance its risk posture and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 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

6 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

  2. 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

  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 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"

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

Keep watching bishopspalace.org.uk

This scan found 21 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
42
Security headers
15
Email security
90
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
66

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

The Bishop's Palace holds a strong market position as a heritage and cultural attraction with a niche focus on medieval history and horticulture. Its partnership with RHS and the provision of family-friendly events and an award-winning café diversify revenue streams beyond ticket sales. The business model is centered on tourism and event hosting, targeting local and visiting families and heritage enthusiasts. The domain age and consistent branding reinforce credibility. The website's integration of multiple marketing and analytics tools suggests an active approach to audience engagement and growth. However, the lack of visible contact information and formal policies may limit direct customer interaction and regulatory compliance. The company appears to operate independently without parent or subsidiary affiliations. Its digital presence is mature but could benefit from enhanced transparency and user support features to strengthen competitive advantage and compliance.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced with strong SSL configuration and multiple security headers, reducing risks of common web attacks. The inclusion of Google reCAPTCHA helps prevent automated abuse. No signs of malware, phishing, or exposed credentials were found. However, the absence of published security policies, incident response procedures, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms indicates gaps in security governance and transparency. These omissions could impact regulatory compliance, particularly under GDPR and NIS2 frameworks. The use of third-party scripts for analytics and marketing introduces potential supply chain risks, necessitating regular audits. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the business type but would benefit from formalized policies and disclosures to improve resilience and stakeholder confidence.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service to enhance compliance and user trust.
  2. Develop and display a security policy and incident response plan to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance website accessibility features to broaden audience reach and meet standards.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate supply chain risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Bishops Palace
Description
800 year old heritage attraction | medieval Palace & 14 acres RHS Partner gardens | Wells, Somerset | re-enactment events - tours - award-winning café
Key services
Heritage tours, Re-enactment events, Award-winning café, Garden visits
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA, Mailerlite, Facebook Pixel
Frameworks
Yoast SEO, Divi Theme
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Use of reCAPTCHA
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Mailerlite
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a heritage attraction with a focus on gardens and family events.
  2. Uses WordPress with Divi theme and Yoast SEO plugin.
  3. Includes multiple tracking and marketing scripts.
  4. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service found on the homepage content.
  5. Cookie policy is present with consent mechanism.
  6. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the provided HTML snippet.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  8. Good SSL and security headers observed.
  9. No WAF or blocking detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a widely used CMS (WordPress) with the Divi theme and Yoast SEO plugin, indicating a modern and flexible technical infrastructure. The tech stack includes jQuery and integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools, reflecting a mature digital marketing approach. Hosting by Heart Internet Limited provides a stable environment. Performance is moderate, with good mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization. Some technical debt may exist due to reliance on multiple third-party scripts, which require ongoing maintenance to avoid vulnerabilities. Opportunities exist to improve accessibility and formalize security and privacy features to reduce technical and compliance risks.
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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