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Security report for dublincoding.ie

Dublin Coding School · Education · Ireland

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Dublin Coding School is a specialized educational institution focused on providing programming courses tailored for adults seeking a career change. Founded in 2021 and based in Ireland, the school targets adult learners aiming to enter the technology sector through practical coding education. The website reflects a small but focused business model with consistent branding and a clear value proposition. Technically, the site is built on WordPress using the Astra theme, leveraging popular plugins such as Gravity Forms for contact and MailerLite for marketing automation. The infrastructure is hosted by Hosting Ireland, with a domain age consistent with the business founding date, indicating legitimacy and stability. Security posture is moderate, with HTTPS enabled and no exposed sensitive data, but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC. Privacy compliance is basic, with a cookie consent mechanism present but no visible privacy policy or terms of service. Overall, the site presents a professional and trustworthy front but would benefit from enhanced privacy and security disclosures to improve compliance and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 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

3 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 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

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

Keep watching dublincoding.ie

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Recommended

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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
72
Security headers
50
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
100
Average
65

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 business operates in the education sector, specifically adult programming education, serving a niche market in Dublin and potentially wider Ireland. Its competitive advantage lies in targeting adults looking for career changes, a growing market segment. Revenue streams likely include course fees and possibly marketing partnerships. The company maintains an active online presence with social media links and uses modern digital marketing tools such as MailerLite and Google Tag Manager. The absence of explicit contact emails or phone numbers suggests a preference for managed contact via forms, which may streamline lead capture but could limit direct communication. The business appears to be small-sized with no parent or subsidiary companies identified. Strategic opportunities include expanding privacy and security transparency and enhancing direct contact options to build customer trust.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a baseline security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible sensitive data leaks. However, the lack of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options indicates room for improvement. The use of popular and regularly updated plugins like Gravity Forms and Yoast SEO reduces vulnerability risks, but no explicit vulnerability disclosure or incident response policies are published, which is a gap in security culture and transparency. GDPR compliance is partially addressed via cookie consent but lacks a privacy policy and data protection officer contact information. The site would benefit from implementing security best practices including security headers, DNSSEC, and publishing security and incident response policies to enhance trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service to enhance GDPR compliance and user trust.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to strengthen site security.
  4. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to demonstrate security maturity and readiness.
  5. Consider adding explicit company contact emails and phone numbers to improve transparency and customer communication.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Dublin Coding School
Description
We are programming school for ADULTS who wish to CHANGE THEIR CAREER! The Dublin CODING School provides courses that have been specifically designed for adult learners.
Key services
Programming courses for adults, Career change training
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Gravity Forms, Yoast SEO, MailerLite, Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
Astra WordPress Theme
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No DNSSEC
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of GDPR cookie compliance plugin

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
MailerLite
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses HTTPS with valid SSL certificate.
  2. No privacy policy or terms of service pages found.
  3. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented via GDPR Cookie Compliance plugin.
  4. Contact information is limited to contact forms; no explicit emails or phone numbers found.
  5. Social media links to Facebook and Instagram are present.
  6. Use of modern WordPress theme Astra and popular plugins like Gravity Forms and Yoast SEO.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found.
  8. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  9. No certifications or compliance badges displayed.
  10. DNSSEC not enabled, which is a minor security gap.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using the Astra theme, which is well-maintained and popular. It uses jQuery and Gravity Forms for interactive elements and form handling, Yoast SEO for search engine optimization, and MailerLite for email marketing. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and tracking. Hosting is provided by Hosting Ireland, a reputable provider. Performance is moderate with lazy loading scripts and optimized fonts. Mobile optimization is good with responsive design. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. The site lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC, which are technical risks. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid for a small educational business but can be enhanced with security and privacy 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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