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Security report for cqsltd.com

CQS (Certified Quality Systems) Ltd · Other · United Kingdom

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and GDPR outside view.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

CQS (Certified Quality Systems) Ltd is a UK-based certification body specializing in ISO management system certifications including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 45001, and others. With 25 years of experience and nearly 8,500 clients served across various sectors such as healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and government, CQS positions itself as a trusted provider of certification, consultancy, and training services. The website is professionally designed, well-structured, and targets businesses seeking ISO certification and compliance solutions. Technically, the site employs modern tracking and marketing technologies such as Google Tag Manager, Lead Forensics, and Demandbase, with good mobile optimization and accessibility. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and secure forms, though it lacks explicit security headers and published incident response policies. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism. However, the absence of public WHOIS data reduces transparency and slightly impacts business credibility. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional but would benefit from enhanced security disclosures and WHOIS transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

2 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

  2. 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

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

Keep watching cqsltd.com

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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
77
Security headers
95
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

CQS operates in the certification and consultancy market, focusing on ISO standards compliance. Their business model revolves around providing certification audits, consultancy, and training services to a diverse client base including government entities and private sector companies. The company leverages its long-standing experience and broad certification portfolio as competitive advantages. The website indicates a medium-sized enterprise with a UK focus. The presence of multiple certifications and case studies suggests a mature business with established processes. The use of third-party marketing and tracking tools indicates an active digital marketing strategy. No direct revenue streams or pricing details are disclosed on the homepage, but a dedicated costs page exists. The company maintains a professional online presence with clear branding and trust signals such as company registration and client testimonials.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with enforced HTTPS, secure contact forms integrated with reCAPTCHA, and cookie consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options is a gap that could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The lack of a published security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency and preparedness perception. The use of multiple third-party tracking scripts introduces a moderate privacy risk, though mitigated by consent banners. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be improved with enhanced header policies and explicit security disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan accessible on the website.
  2. Add essential security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve protection against common web attacks.
  3. Verify and publish WHOIS domain registration details to improve transparency and trustworthiness.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking technologies to minimize privacy risks and ensure compliance.
  5. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
CQS (Certified Quality Systems) Ltd
Registration number
4001926
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
CQS (Certified Quality Systems) Ltd
Description
CQS is a UK based Certification Body specialising in the Certification of Management System Standards including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 45001 and many more. CQS also offer ISO training and ISO consultancy services.
Key services
ISO 9001 Certification, ISO 14001 Certification, ISO 27001 Certification, ISO 45001 Certification, Other ISO Certifications, Certificate Transfer, Internal Audit, ISO Consultancy, 17025 Consultancy, Training
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Lead Forensics, Demandbase, FontAwesome, CookieConsent.js, Glide.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure form with reCAPTCHA integration

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Lead Forensics, Demandbase
Marketing tools
Demandbase
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Professional ISO certification service website
  2. Comprehensive service offerings and certifications listed
  3. Good privacy and cookie compliance
  4. No visible security policy or incident response information
  5. No WHOIS data available, which reduces transparency
  6. Use of multiple third-party tracking and marketing scripts
  7. Clear navigation and well-structured content
  8. No adult or questionable content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack with asynchronous loading of Google Tag Manager, Lead Forensics, Demandbase, and cookie consent scripts, enhancing performance and user experience. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and accessibility features such as ARIA roles and keyboard navigable elements. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Performance is moderate with deferred JavaScript and optimized images. The site uses Glide.js for carousel functionality and FontAwesome for icons. Overall, the technical implementation is robust with opportunities for improvement in security headers and CMS transparency.
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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