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Security report for firstclassmortgageadvice.co.uk

First Class Mortgage Advice Ltd · Finance · United Kingdom

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

42/100

Risk levelHigh

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

First Class Mortgage Advice Ltd is a small, locally focused financial advisory business based in Edinburgh, UK, specializing in mortgage and insurance advice. The company has a long-standing presence since 2003 and is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The website indicates that mortgage advising services have ceased, but insurance support continues. The business targets individuals seeking mortgage and insurance advice in the Edinburgh area. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using common plugins such as Yoast SEO and Contact Form 7, with moderate performance and basic mobile optimization. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled and secure forms, but the use of an outdated jQuery version and lack of security headers present moderate risks. Privacy compliance is weak due to absence of privacy and cookie policies despite use of tracking scripts. Overall, the website presents moderate business credibility with clear contact information and trust signals such as FCA registration.

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

10 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.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • 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
    • 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. 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 firstclassmortgageadvice.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
57
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
42

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 · found on this site
  • 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 operates in the finance sector, focusing on mortgage and insurance advisory services. Its market position is that of a local specialist in Edinburgh with a history dating back to 2003. The business model revolves around providing personalized financial advice and insurance support. Revenue streams likely include advisory fees and insurance commissions. The target customer segment is local individuals and homeowners in Edinburgh. The company maintains a modest digital presence with social media links and uses SEO tools to enhance visibility. No partnerships or subsidiaries were identified. The cessation of mortgage services may indicate a strategic shift or downsizing.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and secure contact forms. However, the presence of an outdated jQuery library introduces potential vulnerabilities. No advanced security headers were detected, and there is no published security or incident response policy. Privacy compliance is lacking, with no visible privacy or cookie policies despite active user tracking via Google Analytics and Tag Manager. The absence of a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file further limits transparency. Overall, the security posture is functional but requires improvements to meet modern standards and regulatory compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Update all JavaScript libraries, especially jQuery, to the latest secure versions to mitigate known vulnerabilities.
  2. Implement and publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, including GDPR compliance statements.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection.
  4. Establish and communicate an incident response policy with dedicated contact channels for security issues.
  5. Improve mobile optimization and accessibility to enhance user experience and compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
First Class Mortgage Advice Ltd
Registration number
244163
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
First Class Mortgage Advice Ltd
Description
Local mortgage advisor with decades of industry experience. Provides mortgage advice and related financial services in Edinburgh, UK. The company has ceased mortgage advising and arranging but continues to support general insurance customers.
Key services
Mortgage advice, Mortgage arrangement (ceased)
Content quality
basic
Branding
moderate

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.8.2, Yoast SEO plugin, Contact Form 7 plugin, Nivo Slider, Fancybox
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Secure contact form with validation
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Marketing tools
Yoast SEO
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website content states the mortgage advice business has ceased trading but continues insurance support.
  2. No privacy or cookie policy found despite use of tracking scripts.
  3. Contact form present with standard fields (name, email, phone, message).
  4. Social media links to Facebook and Google Plus (now defunct) present.
  5. Use of older jQuery version may pose security risks.
  6. No visible security headers in HTML source.
  7. FCA authorization prominently displayed as trust indicator.
  8. Website built on WordPress with common plugins.
  9. No terms of service or security policy pages found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS with plugins including Yoast SEO for search optimization and Contact Form 7 for user inquiries. The technology stack includes jQuery 1.8.2, Nivo Slider, and Fancybox for UI components. Hosting and domain registration are managed by Team Blue Internet Services UK Limited. Performance is moderate with basic mobile responsiveness and accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. However, the use of outdated JavaScript libraries and lack of security headers indicate technical debt and potential security risks. The site would benefit from modernization and enhanced security configurations.
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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