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Security report for formwork.co.uk

Special Formwork · Manufacturing · United Kingdom

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

Security score

39/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Special Formwork is a UK-based specialist company focused on the design and manufacture of bespoke steel formwork systems for concrete casting, serving the construction and infrastructure sectors. The company positions itself as a leading UK provider with a strong emphasis on quality and innovation, targeting construction companies and civil engineers. Their product portfolio includes column formwork, tunnel and shaft formwork, sea defence solutions, and construction equipment fabrication. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image aligned with their business focus. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using modern plugins and themes such as Yoast SEO, WPBakery Page Builder, and MonsterInsights for analytics. The site is mobile-optimized with good SEO practices and moderate performance. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement and standard security headers, although some improvements could be made in cookie consent and published security policies. The security posture is solid with no evident vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, the absence of a visible cookie consent mechanism and lack of published incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies indicate areas for compliance enhancement. The WHOIS data for the domain is unavailable due to a naming rules error, which limits domain legitimacy verification but does not detract from the professional presentation of the website. Overall, the website presents a trustworthy and professional digital presence for Special Formwork, with recommendations to improve privacy compliance and security transparency to further strengthen trust and regulatory adherence.

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. 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

  2. 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

  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 formwork.co.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

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
27
Security headers
40
Email security
55
DNS health
55
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
35
Average
39

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

Special Formwork operates in the manufacturing sector with a niche focus on steel formwork for construction. Their business model is B2B, serving infrastructure and civil engineering projects primarily in the UK. The company leverages bespoke design and manufacturing capabilities as competitive advantages. Revenue streams likely derive from product sales and custom fabrication services. The target customer segments include construction firms and infrastructure developers. The company maintains an active social media presence and publishes industry-related news, indicating engagement and growth orientation. The parent company is Mercian Weldcraft Limited, suggesting a stable corporate structure. The website content and testimonials support a positive market reputation and customer satisfaction.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and multiple security headers implemented, reducing common web vulnerabilities. No sensitive data leakage or vulnerable libraries were detected. Contact forms appear secure, and no suspicious scripts were found. However, the lack of a cookie consent banner and absence of published security or incident response policies represent compliance gaps, particularly under GDPR and NIS2 frameworks. The site does not provide a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file, limiting transparency for security researchers. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly visible, suggesting room for improvement in security communication and governance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a clear and user-friendly cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR requirements.
  2. Publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan accessible on the website.
  3. Develop and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance website accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user inclusivity.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Mercian Weldcraft Limited
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Special Formwork
Description
Formwork design and manufacture specialists. Supplying complex formwork systems across UK and international projects.
Key services
Design and manufacture of steel formwork, Column formwork, Tunnel and shaft formwork, Sea defence formwork, Construction equipment fabrication, Laser cutting services
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Google Analytics, Yoast SEO, WPBakery Page Builder, MonsterInsights, Salient Theme
Frameworks
WordPress CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure contact forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, MonsterInsights
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
MonsterInsights, Lfeeder
Marketing tools
Yoast SEO, Taggbox Widget
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 rich content and no blocking detected.
  2. WHOIS data is unavailable due to domain naming rules error.
  3. Website uses HTTPS with good security headers.
  4. Contact information is clearly presented with multiple channels.
  5. Social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
  6. Uses WordPress CMS with common plugins and themes.
  7. No explicit privacy consent banner detected despite cookie policy presence.
  8. No visible security or incident response policies published.
  9. Content is business-focused and safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using a modern tech stack including PHP, jQuery, and several well-known plugins such as Yoast SEO and MonsterInsights. The site uses Google Analytics for visitor tracking and Taggbox for social media integration. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and SEO practices. The site employs standard security headers and HTTPS, indicating a secure hosting environment. Technical debt appears low, but improvements in accessibility and privacy compliance could enhance overall digital maturity. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified. The site architecture supports clear navigation and content relevance, contributing to a positive user experience.
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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