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Security report for essexarb.co.uk

Essex ARB · Other · United Kingdom

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

41/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Essex ARB operates as a specialized service provider in the forestry and tree surgery sector within the United Kingdom, focusing on total tree solutions including tree surgery, felling, stump grinding, and woodland management. The company targets property owners and managers requiring professional tree care services. The website reflects a small business with a local/regional market position, emphasizing compliance with British standards and affiliations with recognized forestry organizations. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 7.0, utilizing jQuery and Font Awesome, with SEO optimization via Yoast SEO plugin. The site is moderately performant and mobile-optimized at a basic level. Security posture is generally good with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though security headers and incident response mechanisms are lacking. Privacy and cookie policies are absent, indicating compliance gaps. WHOIS data is incomplete and inconsistent, reducing trustworthiness. Overall, the website is functional and professional but would benefit from enhanced privacy compliance and security best practices.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  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. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching essexarb.co.uk

This scan found 29 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
47
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
35
Average
41

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 a niche market providing essential tree and forestry services, leveraging local expertise and recognized standards to build trust. The business model is service-oriented with revenue likely derived from contracted tree surgery and forestry management projects. The company maintains a modest digital presence with limited social media engagement, primarily on Facebook. Partnerships with the Forestry Commission and Buy With Confidence scheme enhance credibility. Growth indicators are not explicit, but the website content and affiliations suggest a stable small business. The lack of detailed company registration or VAT information limits deeper business intelligence. The company could improve market positioning by expanding digital marketing and transparency.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is properly implemented, ensuring encrypted communications. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces defense-in-depth. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are present, limiting incident response readiness. No forms on the homepage reduce attack surface but also limit data collection transparency. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing policies. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected, which is positive. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a small business but requires improvements to meet higher compliance and security standards.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR compliance.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to enhance security posture.
  3. Create and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosure and incident response.
  4. Improve mobile optimization and accessibility to enhance user experience.
  5. Investigate and resolve WHOIS inconsistencies to improve domain legitimacy and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Essex ARB
Description
Total Tree Solutions
Key services
Tree Surgery, Felling & Take Downs, Stump Grinding, Forestry & Woodland Management
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.7.1, Font Awesome 4.5.0, Yoast SEO plugin, WordPress 7.0
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (canonical URL is https)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Marketing tools
Yoast SEO
Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress site with Yoast SEO plugin
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service pages found
  3. Contact info is clearly displayed in header
  4. Social media presence limited to Facebook
  5. No security.txt or incident response info found
  6. No visible forms on homepage
  7. No advertising or tracking scripts detected beyond Yoast SEO
  8. Site uses HTTPS with valid SSL
  9. WHOIS data is incomplete and inconsistent with website presence
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress platform (version 7.0) with standard plugins such as Yoast SEO for search engine optimization. It uses jQuery 3.7.1 and Font Awesome 4.5.0 for UI elements. The site loads CSS and JS resources from both the site domain and external CDNs (maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com). Performance is moderate with no major issues detected, but mobile optimization is basic and accessibility features are minimal. The site lacks advanced frameworks or modern JavaScript libraries beyond jQuery. No analytics or tracking scripts were detected, indicating minimal user tracking. The technical stack is stable but could benefit from modernization and enhanced performance tuning.
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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