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Security report for counselling.org

The Grove · Education · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

55/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Grove Practice is a specialized education provider focused on continuing professional development (CPD) for mental health professionals including therapists, psychotherapists, and counsellors. Their offerings include live and self-study courses, webinars, and conferences primarily delivered online or in London. The website is well-structured, professionally designed, and optimized for SEO, targeting a UK-based audience with a strong emphasis on inclusivity and community. Technically, the site leverages WordPress with modern plugins and integrates Google Analytics, Facebook SDK, and anti-spam measures such as reCAPTCHA and SpamKill. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and form protections, though explicit security headers could be improved. The absence of publicly available WHOIS data limits domain legitimacy verification, but the professional content and branding suggest a legitimate business. Privacy policy and terms of service pages were not detected, indicating an area for compliance improvement.

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

5 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 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';…

  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 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

  3. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • 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

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Keep watching counselling.org

This scan found 23 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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  • 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
57
Security headers
20
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
83
Average
55

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 Grove occupies a niche in the mental health education sector, offering accredited CPD courses and training that cater to therapists and related professionals. Their business model relies on course fees, webinar sales, and community engagement. The partnership with Teachable for self-study courses expands their digital reach. The company demonstrates strong market positioning through detailed course offerings, endorsements, and testimonials. Growth potential is supported by diverse course topics and a focus on emerging areas like adult ADHD. The lack of direct contact details suggests a preference for controlled communication channels via forms. Overall, The Grove appears to be a focused, small-sized education provider with a clear target audience and a professional online presence.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with a good SSL configuration and uses Google reCAPTCHA v3 and SpamKill to protect forms from spam and abuse. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are not evident in the provided data, which could enhance protection against common web attacks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The site lacks visible incident response or security policy pages, which could be improved to demonstrate security maturity. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from additional hardening and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service to improve compliance and user trust.
  2. Implement and verify security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Provide clear contact information including company emails and phone numbers for better business credibility.
  4. Consider publishing a security policy and incident response contact details to enhance security transparency.
  5. Regularly audit WHOIS data and domain registration to ensure consistency and legitimacy.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Grove
Description
The Grove is a centre of excellence for mental health training offering CPD courses for therapists, psychotherapists, and counsellors. They provide practice-based courses conducted on Zoom or in person, focusing on trauma therapy, integrative supervision, couple/relationship therapy, emotional regulation skills, psychosexual therapy, and more. The Grove emphasizes a supportive community, continuous self-improvement, and inclusivity.
Key services
CPD mental health training courses, Self-study courses, Live webinars and events, Therapist practitioner directory, Newsletter subscription
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Analytics (gtag.js), Google Tag Manager, Facebook SDK, reCAPTCHA v3, SpamKill anti-spam, WonderPush push notifications, jQuery 3.6.1, Plyr video player, Infusionsoft (Keap) forms
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA v3 for forms
  • SpamKill anti-spam protection on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data found in HTML

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel (via Facebook SDK)
Marketing tools
Infusionsoft (Keap) for email marketing and forms, WonderPush for push notifications
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 multimedia.
  2. Strong focus on mental health CPD training and community building.
  3. Use of modern web technologies and security measures.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers publicly listed; contact via forms only.
  5. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service pages detected in provided content.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, limiting domain legitimacy verification.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress with a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO, Google Analytics, Facebook SDK, and advanced anti-spam tools like SpamKill. It uses jQuery 3.6.1 and Plyr for video playback, indicating a multimedia-rich experience. The site is mobile optimized and accessible with good SEO practices including structured data (JSON-LD) and Open Graph tags. Performance is moderate, likely due to multimedia content and external scripts. Hosting provider details are not explicit. The site integrates third-party platforms such as Infusionsoft for marketing and Teachable for course delivery, reflecting a hybrid infrastructure. Technical risks are low but depend on regular updates and security maintenance.
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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