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Security report for clearbooks.co.uk

Clear Books Limited · Technology · United Kingdom

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

Clear Books Limited is a UK-based company providing premier online accounting software tailored for small businesses. Their platform offers comprehensive features including invoicing, bookkeeping, VAT management, multi-currency support, and compliance with HMRC's Making Tax Digital and Construction Industry Scheme. The company positions itself as an award-winning solution with a strong user base of over 15,000 UK small businesses and endorsements from accountants. Technically, the website employs a modern tech stack with jQuery, Google Tag Manager, and Visual Website Optimizer, delivering a responsive and user-friendly experience. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and CSRF protections, though there is room for improvement in implementing additional security headers. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear cookie and privacy policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the website reflects a professional, trustworthy, and mature digital presence supporting Clear Books' business objectives.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

  2. 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 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

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Keep watching clearbooks.co.uk

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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
75
Security headers
65
Email security
97
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
83

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention clearbooks.co.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
542
Employees
0
Customers
542
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
13%

3 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for clearbooks.co.uk.

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Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Clear Books operates a SaaS business model offering tiered subscription plans with a free 30-day trial, targeting UK small businesses including limited companies, sole traders, and partnerships across various industries such as construction, IT, retail, and consulting. Their competitive advantage lies in AI-powered bookkeeping automation, HMRC-recognized compliance, and strong customer support. The company leverages partnerships with accounting bodies and maintains active social media channels to enhance market reach. Revenue streams are primarily subscription-based with potential upsells in payroll and CIS software. Growth indicators include positive Trustpilot reviews and accreditation by the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers. The company’s digital marketing ecosystem includes analytics and optimization tools to drive customer acquisition and retention.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, CSRF protection, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options suggests opportunities for hardening. No known vulnerabilities or malware indicators were detected. Privacy policies and cookie consent mechanisms align with GDPR requirements, though no explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies were found. The lack of a security.txt file or dedicated security contact may limit incident response readiness. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced header policies and formalized incident response documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and vulnerability disclosure program to improve transparency and incident response.
  3. Regularly update and audit third-party libraries to mitigate risks from outdated dependencies.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to meet higher standards and improve user inclusivity.
  5. Consider adding explicit Data Protection Officer contact information to strengthen GDPR compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Legal name
Clear Books Limited
Registration number
843585
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Clear Books Limited
Description
Clear Books offers premier UK online accounting software focused on seamless invoicing, bookkeeping, VAT management, multi-currency support, and CIS compliance. It targets small businesses with intuitive and clear accounting features.
Key services
Online accounting software, Invoicing software, Making Tax Digital (MTD) compliance, Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) software, Payroll software
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.9.1, jQuery UI 1.11.4, Google Tag Manager, Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), Font Awesome 4.4.0, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • CSRF protection script included
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Visual Website Optimizer
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Visual Website Optimizer, Trustpilot widget
Marketing tools
Visual Website Optimizer, GetSiteControl
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 no blocking mechanisms.
  2. Strong UK small business accounting software branding and market positioning.
  3. Use of modern marketing and analytics tools with privacy considerations.
  4. No visible security headers detected; opportunity for improvement.
  5. WHOIS data unavailable due to query on subdomain rather than domain.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a custom PHP-based MVC framework with frontend technologies including jQuery 1.9.1 and jQuery UI 1.11.4, which are somewhat dated but functional. It uses Google Tag Manager and Visual Website Optimizer for analytics and A/B testing, indicating a data-driven approach to marketing. The site is mobile responsive with good SEO metadata and structured data in JSON-LD format, enhancing search engine visibility. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements by updating libraries and optimizing assets. No CMS was detected, suggesting a bespoke platform. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business needs but could be modernized for improved 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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