Skip to main content

Security report for county-vets.co.uk

County Vets · Healthcare · United Kingdom

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

40/100

Risk levelHigh

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

County Vets is a well-established veterinary practice based in Ayrshire, UK, providing comprehensive veterinary services for small animals, farm animals, and horses. The business operates two surgeries in Maybole and Ayr, offering a wide range of diagnostics, treatments, and health plans tailored to the needs of their clients. Their market position is that of a trusted local mixed veterinary practice with a clear focus on quality care and client service. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using modern technologies such as Bootstrap 4, jQuery, and FontAwesome. It employs Google reCAPTCHA v3 for form security and enforces HTTPS, ensuring secure communications. The site is moderately performant, mobile-optimized, and has good SEO and accessibility basics, though there is room for improvement in security headers and privacy compliance. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices with HTTPS and anti-bot measures but lacks formal security policies, incident response information, and cookie consent mechanisms, which are important for GDPR compliance. No vulnerabilities or suspicious content were detected, and the domain registration data supports the legitimacy of the business. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and serves its target audience effectively. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance and security headers would enhance its security posture and regulatory adherence.

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

10 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
    • 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

  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. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching county-vets.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.

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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
25
Email security
60
DNS health
65
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
40

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

County Vets operates as a local veterinary service provider targeting pet owners, farmers, and horse owners in Ayrshire. Their business model centers on offering veterinary care, diagnostics, and health plans. The company benefits from certifications from recognized veterinary associations, enhancing trust and credibility. The website content and structure indicate a focus on client education and service transparency. The presence of social media channels supports community engagement. The business appears stable with a domain age consistent with its founding year (2012). There is no indication of parent or subsidiary companies, suggesting an independent operation. Growth opportunities may include expanding digital marketing and enhancing privacy compliance to meet evolving regulations.

Security posture

The website maintains a good security posture with HTTPS enforced and Google reCAPTCHA protecting forms against automated abuse. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security reduces defense-in-depth. No security or incident response policies are published, which limits transparency and preparedness communication. The site does not implement cookie consent mechanisms, which is a compliance gap under GDPR. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. Overall, the security maturity is moderate, with room for improvement in policy publication and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with explicit GDPR compliance statements and a consent mechanism.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-XSS-Protection, and Strict-Transport-Security to enhance protection.
  3. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress plugins and themes to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and conduct periodic performance optimization to improve user experience.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
County Vets
Description
County Vets is a modern veterinary practice in Ayrshire providing comprehensive veterinary services for small animals, farm animals, and horses. They operate surgeries in Maybole and Ayr, offering diagnostics, treatments, surgeries, and health plans tailored to various animals.
Key services
Farm animal veterinary services, Small animal veterinary services, Equine veterinary services, Diagnostics and treatments, Health plans and client training
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Bootstrap, FontAwesome, Contact Form 7, Google reCAPTCHA v3
Frameworks
Bootstrap 4
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google reCAPTCHA v3 implemented on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook SDK
Marketing tools
Facebook SDK
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 veterinary practice site serving Ayrshire, UK.
  2. Content is well structured with clear navigation and service descriptions.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy explicitly found, GDPR compliance is weak.
  4. Security posture is good with HTTPS and reCAPTCHA but lacks security headers and formal security policies.
  5. No signs of suspicious or malicious content or domains.
  6. Social media presence on Facebook and LinkedIn is established.
  7. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and domain age aligns with business claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform with Bootstrap 4 for responsive design and jQuery for client-side scripting. It uses Contact Form 7 for form management and Google reCAPTCHA v3 for spam prevention. The site loads external resources from trusted domains such as Google Fonts and Facebook SDK. Performance is moderate with no critical errors detected. The site is mobile-optimized and SEO-friendly with proper meta tags and structured navigation. However, the lack of security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates technical debt in security and privacy compliance. Hosting details are limited to registrar information (123-Reg Limited), with no explicit hosting provider identified. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but could benefit from enhanced security and privacy features.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with county-vets.co.uk. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review county-vets.co.uk.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.