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Security report for esb.ie

ESB · Energy · Ireland

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

ESB is a large, established Irish utility company operating across the electricity market including generation, transmission, distribution, and supply. The company also has diversified operations in telecommunications and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive corporate governance, sustainability, and investor relations content, targeting a broad audience including consumers, businesses, and investors. The business model is vertically integrated, supporting a strong market position in Ireland and internationally through subsidiaries.

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

1 finding 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

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

Keep watching esb.ie

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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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
80
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
81

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 company maintains a strong market position as a national utility with diversified services and subsidiaries. Its business model leverages integrated energy services and emerging sectors like electric vehicles and telecoms. The website's structure and content indicate a focus on transparency, governance, and sustainability, which are competitive advantages. The presence of multiple related domains and subsidiaries suggests a broad partnership ecosystem and operational scale. Growth indicators include investment in renewables and smart energy services.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security posture with HTTPS enforced, appropriate security headers, and cookie consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and there is no published security.txt or explicit incident response contact, which are areas for improvement. The use of OneTrust for cookie management and Google Tag Manager for analytics is standard practice. Overall, the security maturity is solid but could be enhanced with additional transparency and DNS security.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  3. Provide explicit incident response contact information such as security@ or abuse@ emails.
  4. Regularly review and audit third-party scripts and libraries for vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency by publishing recognized security certifications or frameworks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ESB
Description
As a strong, diversified, vertically integrated utility, ESB operates right across the electricity market: from generation, through transmission and distribution to supply.
Key services
Electricity generation, Transmission and distribution, Electricity supply, Telecommunications, Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent
Frameworks
Sitefinity CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses Sitefinity CMS and modern JavaScript frameworks.
  2. Comprehensive corporate governance and data protection information available.
  3. Cookie consent implemented via OneTrust with clear user controls.
  4. No exposed emails or phone numbers directly in HTML; contact via forms.
  5. Multiple subsidiary and partner domains linked and referenced.
  6. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious content.
  7. Good security headers and HTTPS enforced.
  8. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security gap.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Sitefinity CMS platform, using modern JavaScript and third-party services like Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for analytics and cookie consent. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The technical infrastructure appears stable and professionally managed, with hosting linked to the registrar Magnet Business. There is no evidence of technical debt or outdated technologies, but enabling DNSSEC and improving incident response mechanisms would strengthen the technical security posture.
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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