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Security report for browells.co.uk

Browell Smith and Co Solicitors Ltd · Other · United Kingdom

High risk. 6 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Browell Smith and Co Solicitors Ltd is a well-established regional law firm based in the North East of the United Kingdom, offering a broad range of legal services including personal injury, medical negligence, family law, wills, probate, and conveyancing. The firm emphasizes over 30 years of experience and a strong client base exceeding 160,000 individuals, positioning itself as a trusted legal advisor in its market. The website reflects a professional and client-focused approach with comprehensive service descriptions and client testimonials. Technically, the website is built on WordPress and leverages modern web technologies such as jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and LiveChat to enhance user experience and gather analytics data. The site is well-optimized for SEO and mobile responsiveness, with good accessibility features and a clean, professional design. From a security perspective, the site employs HTTPS with strong SSL configuration and includes standard security headers. Forms are protected with CAPTCHA to mitigate spam and abuse. However, there is no publicly available security policy or incident response information, and no vulnerability disclosure mechanism is evident. The absence of WHOIS registration data due to domain naming rules issues is a notable concern, impacting domain legitimacy verification. Overall, the website presents a low-risk profile with strong business credibility and technical implementation, but the missing WHOIS data and lack of explicit security policies suggest areas for improvement in transparency and trustworthiness.

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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. 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';…

  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

  4. 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 browells.co.uk

This scan found 25 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.

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Full report

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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
62
Security headers
60
Email security
60
DNS health
65
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
53
Average
50
After the cap
49

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

The firm operates in the legal services sector, targeting individuals and families in the North East UK region. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing presence, extensive client base, and comprehensive service offerings across multiple legal domains. The business model is service-oriented, generating revenue through legal consultations, claims, and conveyancing services. The website indicates a mature digital presence with strategic use of marketing and analytics tools. Partnerships with recognized legal bodies and accreditations enhance its market credibility. Growth indicators include a broad service portfolio and active content marketing via news and FAQs. The firm maintains a professional brand image consistent across its digital assets.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of CAPTCHA on forms, and presence of key security headers. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of a published security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure channel limits transparency and preparedness perception. The use of third-party scripts introduces potential risk vectors that require ongoing monitoring. Compliance with GDPR is indicated through privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by formalizing and publishing security governance documents and incident response contacts.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Add explicit incident response contact information to facilitate reporting and response.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance form input validation and monitoring to prevent abuse and data leakage.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Browell Smith and Co Solicitors Ltd
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Browell Smith and Co Solicitors Ltd
Description
Newcastle solicitors with over 30 years' experience dealing in a range of legal services including personal injury, medical negligence, wills and conveyancing.
Key services
Personal Injury Claims, Medical Negligence, Family Law, Wills, Trusts & Probate, Conveyancing
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, LiveChat, Gravity Forms, Yoast SEO
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of CAPTCHA on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Security headers present

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
iPromote
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, LiveChat
Marketing tools
Yoast SEO
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and professional design.
  2. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
  3. Comprehensive legal service offerings with detailed navigation and content.
  4. Multiple trust signals including regulatory badges and client testimonials.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  6. WHOIS data is missing or inaccessible, which is a concern for domain legitimacy verification.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform, utilizing a combination of JavaScript libraries including jQuery and various analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and LiveChat. The site employs modern SEO practices with Yoast SEO plugin integration and structured data in JSON-LD format for enhanced search engine understanding. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization in loading speed. Mobile optimization and accessibility are good, supporting a wide range of users. The technical stack is current but relies on multiple third-party scripts, which necessitates vigilant security management. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified from the content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly experience with opportunities for performance tuning 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

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