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Security report for clactonbusinessservices.co.uk

Clacton Business Services Ltd · Finance · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

51/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Clacton Business Services Ltd is a small, established UK-based chartered accountancy firm with over 30 years of experience. The company offers a broad range of financial and accounting services including bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, tax assistance, and specialized services for sectors such as care homes, charities, and educational institutions. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image targeting small to medium-sized businesses seeking reliable accounting support. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with WooCommerce and Elementor, leveraging common web technologies and Google reCAPTCHA for form security. While HTTPS is properly implemented, the absence of security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates room for improvement in security posture and privacy compliance. Overall, the site is functional, well-structured, and trustworthy, but could benefit from enhanced security policies and GDPR compliance features.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 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

9 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. 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"

    • 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 clactonbusinessservices.co.uk

This scan found 29 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.

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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
27
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
51

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 company positions itself as a professional accounting service provider with a local focus and a long-standing market presence. Its business model centers on delivering personalized accounting and financial consultancy services to a diverse client base including businesses, charities, and educational institutions. The website content and service offerings suggest a stable revenue stream from recurring accounting and payroll services. The presence of partner links to HR advice and national minimum wage resources indicates an ecosystem approach to client support. The firm’s market position is supported by its domain age and consistent branding, though it lacks visible certifications or accreditations on the site. The company maintains direct contact channels and a clear service portfolio, which supports client trust and engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and Google reCAPTCHA is used to protect forms from automated abuse. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces the overall security posture. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, and there is no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism also raises privacy compliance concerns under GDPR. While no critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected, the site would benefit from implementing additional security best practices and formalizing its security policies to enhance trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner and detailed cookie policy to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve security posture and client trust.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly audit third-party plugins and scripts to ensure no vulnerable libraries are in use and maintain up-to-date software versions.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Clacton Business Services Ltd
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Clacton Business Services Ltd
Description
Chartered accountants delivering a professional approach to accounting. Working as part of your team to help your business thrive. Services include accounts, bookkeeping, payroll, VAT, tax assist, financial consultancy, and specialized services for care homes, charities, schools, and more.
Key services
Accounts, Bookkeeping, Payroll, VAT, Tax Assist, Financial Services - Personal and Business, Auto-Enrolment, Care Homes & Home Care, Charities, CIS Scheme
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, jQuery, Bootstrap, Google reCAPTCHA
Frameworks
WooCommerce, Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Google reCAPTCHA implemented on forms

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
MyPopUps
Tracking pixels
Google reCAPTCHA
Marketing tools
MyPopUps
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional accounting service with clear service offerings.
  2. Content is well structured and navigation is clear.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy banner detected, which may impact GDPR compliance.
  4. Security headers are missing or not detected; HTTPS is properly implemented.
  5. Contact information is complete and includes physical address, phone, and email.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  7. Use of third-party marketing popup service (MyPopUps).
  8. No analytics services explicitly detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using WooCommerce for e-commerce capabilities and Elementor for page building. It incorporates common frontend libraries such as jQuery and Bootstrap, and uses Google Fonts for typography. The site loads multiple CSS and JS assets from its own domain and trusted third-party sources. Performance is moderate with no major blocking issues detected, and the site is mobile responsive with good navigation clarity. However, the site lacks advanced SEO optimizations and accessibility features. The use of third-party marketing popups (MyPopUps) is noted, which may impact user experience if not managed carefully. Overall, the technical infrastructure is standard for a small business website but could be enhanced with improved security configurations and SEO practices.
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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