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Security report for firststep.org.uk

First Step · Non-profit · United Kingdom

High risk. 9 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 Step is a UK-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing family support services for children with special needs and/or disabilities. With over 35 years of operation, it holds a reputable position in its local community, offering services such as fundraising, events, and volunteering opportunities. The website reflects a focused mission to support families, with clear contact channels and social media presence enhancing its outreach. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using popular plugins like Yoast SEO, Contact Form 7, and Smart Slider 3. It employs Google Analytics and Google reCAPTCHA for analytics and form security respectively. The site is mobile-optimized and demonstrates good SEO practices, though some accessibility features are basic. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. Security posture is generally good with HTTPS enforced and reCAPTCHA protecting forms. However, the absence of security headers and lack of visible privacy and cookie policies indicate areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to a domain query error, but the website content and contact information suggest legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional and trustworthy, but enhancing privacy compliance and security headers would strengthen its security and user trust. Strategic recommendations include publishing comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, implementing security headers, and maintaining regular updates to plugins and CMS.

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. 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"

    • 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';…

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

Keep watching firststep.org.uk

This scan found 30 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
65
Network security
20
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
  • 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

First Step operates as a small-sized non-profit entity focused on family support services in the UK. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing community presence and specialized support for families of children with special needs. Revenue streams likely include donations, fundraising events, and volunteer contributions. The target customer segment is families requiring support for children with disabilities. The organization maintains an active partnership ecosystem via social media channels and uses digital tools for outreach and engagement. Strategic observations highlight a well-established brand with opportunities to enhance digital privacy and security compliance to meet evolving regulatory standards.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS and Google reCAPTCHA implemented, protecting user data and forms. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options exposes potential risks. No visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Compliance gaps exist due to missing privacy and cookie policies, which are critical for GDPR adherence. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not evident on the site. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a non-profit but requires enhancements to align with best practices and regulatory requirements.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent banner to improve GDPR compliance.
  2. Implement security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Regularly update WordPress core and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  4. Establish and publish an incident response policy with clear contact channels for security issues.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve user experience for all visitors.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
First Step Opportunity Group
Registration number
4767369
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
First Step
Description
Providing Family Support Services
Key services
Family support services, Fundraising, Events, Volunteering opportunities
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO, Contact Form 7, Google reCAPTCHA, Google Analytics, Smart Slider 3, SiteOrigin Panels, jQuery
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google reCAPTCHA on forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

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 detected
  2. Content is focused on family support for children with special needs
  3. No privacy or cookie policy found on homepage or linked pages
  4. Contact form uses Contact Form 7 with Google reCAPTCHA v3
  5. Social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
  6. No visible security headers detected in HTML source
  7. WHOIS data unavailable due to domain query error
  8. Website uses WordPress CMS with common plugins
  9. No adult or questionable content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform with a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO for search optimization, Contact Form 7 for form management, and Smart Slider 3 for visual content. It uses Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for tracking and marketing insights. The site is mobile responsive and has moderate performance. Technical debt is minimal but could be reduced by optimizing scripts and implementing security headers. Hosting provider details are not explicitly available. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the organization's mission but can benefit from security and privacy enhancements.
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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