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Security report for darrensmithhomes.co.uk

Darren Smith Homes · Real Estate · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

58/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Darren Smith Homes is a reputable, long-established house builder based in Yorkshire, UK, specializing in luxury residential developments targeted primarily at the over 55s demographic. The company emphasizes quality craftsmanship and has earned notable industry recognition including an NHBC A1 rating and the NHBC Pride in the Job Supreme Award. Their business model focuses on developing and selling high-end apartments and homes with a strong local presence and trusted brand identity. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using the Elementor page builder and Yoast SEO plugin, indicating a modern and maintainable digital infrastructure. The site includes integrations with Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Facebook Pixel for marketing and analytics purposes. The website is mobile-optimized and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and professional design. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks several recommended security headers and does not provide explicit cookie consent mechanisms, which are important for GDPR compliance. The WHOIS data for the domain is unavailable due to querying the www subdomain instead of the root domain, but the website content and company information strongly indicate legitimacy. Overall, the website presents a low-risk profile with good business credibility and technical implementation. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance and security headers would enhance trust and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

6 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

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. 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"

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

Keep watching darrensmithhomes.co.uk

This scan found 28 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.

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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
47
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
58

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

Darren Smith Homes holds a strong market position as a small regional house builder with a focus on luxury retirement apartments and homes. Their competitive advantage lies in their multi-generational experience, local reputation, and industry awards. The business model is centered on property development and sales, targeting mature customers seeking quality and exclusivity. Revenue streams are primarily from property sales. The company maintains a partnership ecosystem including marketing agencies and industry bodies such as NHBC. Growth indicators include recent developments and award recognitions. The company operates primarily in the UK real estate sector with a focus on Yorkshire.

Security posture

The current security posture is moderate with HTTPS enforced and no visible sensitive data leaks. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces protection against common web attacks. The lack of a cookie consent mechanism and explicit privacy compliance features indicates partial GDPR adherence. No incident response or security policy information is published, which limits transparency and preparedness. The use of third-party tracking scripts introduces potential privacy risks. Overall, the security maturity is adequate for a small business but could be improved with standard best practices and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Referrer-Policy to enhance protection against web vulnerabilities.
  2. Deploy a clear cookie consent banner and mechanism to ensure GDPR compliance and user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve trust and readiness.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities and privacy risks.
  5. Consider obtaining and displaying additional certifications or trust seals to reinforce business credibility.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Darren Smith Homes
Registration number
2039128
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Darren Smith Homes
Description
Darren Smith Homes is a long-established, award-winning house builder based in Yorkshire, UK, specializing in luxury, age-exclusive apartments and homes, particularly for the over 55s. They emphasize quality, craftsmanship, and value with a strong local reputation and NHBC A1 rating.
Key services
Development of luxury apartments, House building, Property sales
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Elementor, Yoast SEO, jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Pixel, Vimeo embed
Frameworks
Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel with consent implied

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Ads
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Google Ads, Facebook Pixel
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professionally presented and targeted at over 55s home buyers.
  3. No forms detected on the homepage; contact likely via email or phone links.
  4. Use of modern WordPress CMS with Elementor builder and Yoast SEO plugin.
  5. Tracking includes Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Facebook Pixel.
  6. No explicit cookie consent banner or mechanism detected.
  7. WHOIS data is unavailable due to querying www subdomain instead of root domain.
  8. Company provides clear contact details and legal information in footer.
  9. Website includes social media links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
  10. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern WordPress CMS with Elementor for page building and Yoast SEO for search optimization. It integrates common analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Facebook Pixel. The site is mobile responsive and loads with moderate performance. There is no evidence of outdated or vulnerable libraries in the HTML content. The absence of advanced security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates some technical debt in security and privacy compliance. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional online presence 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

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