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Security report for cultpens.com

Cult Pens · E-commerce · United Kingdom

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

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

Cult Pens is a well-established UK-based e-commerce retailer specializing in pens and pencils, boasting a wide product range of over 24,000 items. The website positions itself as a trusted online pen shop offering secure ordering, expert knowledge, and excellent customer service with free UK delivery and worldwide shipping. Technically, the site is built on the Shopify platform, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Owl Carousel, and integrates third-party services including Klevu for search, Trustpilot for reviews, and OneTrust for cookie consent management. The site demonstrates good digital maturity with mobile optimization and SEO best practices. Security-wise, the site uses HTTPS with a domain status of clientTransferProhibited, indicating domain transfer protection. However, explicit security headers are not fully implemented, and no public security or incident response policies are found. Privacy compliance is partially addressed through cookie consent mechanisms, but no explicit privacy or terms of service pages were detected in the provided content. Overall, the website is professional and trustworthy but could improve transparency around privacy and security policies.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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. 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

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

Keep watching cultpens.com

This scan found 18 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

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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
75
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
79

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

Cult Pens operates in the retail e-commerce sector, targeting stationery and pen enthusiasts primarily in the UK but also internationally. Founded in 2005, the company has built a strong market position as a specialist pen retailer with a large product catalog. The business model focuses on direct online sales with value-added services such as expert advice and free shipping. The partnership ecosystem includes Shopify as the platform provider, Trustpilot for customer feedback, Global-e for international commerce, and Klevu for enhanced search capabilities. The company demonstrates consistent branding and a professional online presence, supporting growth and customer trust. No parent or subsidiary companies were identified, indicating an independent operation.

Security posture

The website maintains a good security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protection enabled. Use of Shopify's Customer Privacy API and OneTrust cookie consent indicates awareness of privacy regulations. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are publicly available, which is a gap in transparency and readiness. Third-party scripts are numerous, necessitating ongoing security audits to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the site is secure for typical e-commerce operations but should enhance security policy visibility and header implementation to strengthen protection and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service to improve transparency and compliance.
  2. Add explicit security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Referrer-Policy.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies for vulnerabilities and update them promptly.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet recognized standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Cult Pens
Description
The finest UK online pen shop: 24,000+ products at great prices. Secure ordering. Expert knowledge. Best customer service. Free UK delivery and worldwide shipping.
Key services
Online pen and pencil sales, Secure ordering, Customer service, Free UK delivery, Worldwide shipping
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Shopify, jQuery 3.7.1, Owl Carousel, OneTrust (cookie consent), Klevu (search and recommendations), Cloudflare DNS, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, Facebook SDK, Shopify Payments, Shopify Digital Wallet, Shopify Customer Privacy API
Frameworks
Shopify Liquid (implied), Shopify Theme Canopy 6.3.2
Platforms
Shopify
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • Use of Shopify Customer Privacy API

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Hotjar, Shopify Analytics, Klevu Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar, Facebook SDK
Marketing tools
Trustpilot, Klevu Search and Recommendations, Shopify Marketing Features
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 e-commerce platform selling pens and pencils
  2. Uses Shopify platform with multiple third-party integrations
  3. Implements cookie consent via OneTrust
  4. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service found in provided content
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML content
  6. Good use of modern web technologies and analytics
  7. Security headers could be improved
  8. No evidence of WAF or blocking mechanisms
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Shopify using a modern tech stack including jQuery, Owl Carousel, and various Shopify APIs. It integrates multiple third-party services for analytics, marketing, and user experience enhancements. Performance is moderate with deferred script loading and font optimizations. Mobile optimization is good, and SEO metadata is well implemented with Open Graph and Twitter cards. However, accessibility is basic and could be improved. The site uses Cloudflare DNS but does not show signs of active WAF or security challenge pages. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid and supports a professional e-commerce experience with room for security and accessibility improvements.
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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