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Security report for futureplc.com

Future PLC · Media · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Future PLC is a well-established global media company specializing in specialist media brands across technology, gaming, fashion, lifestyle, sports, finance, and B2B sectors. Founded in 1985, it has grown to operate over 200 brands and holds a leading market position in the UK and US. The company leverages multiplatform publishing including websites, magazines, events, and digital services to engage a broad audience of passionate consumers. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern technologies such as jQuery and Google Tag Manager, hosted on AWS infrastructure, and optimized for mobile and SEO. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, domain protection statuses, and privacy management scripts, though some security headers could be improved and no explicit vulnerability disclosure policy was found. Privacy compliance is robust with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the website and business demonstrate high professionalism, trustworthiness, and digital maturity.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of futureplc.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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';…

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

  3. 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 futureplc.com

This scan found 22 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
57
Security headers
15
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
69

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

Future PLC's market positioning as a leader in specialist media is supported by its extensive brand portfolio and acquisitions such as TI Media and Go.Compare. Its business model is diversified across advertising, events, licensing, and digital content, targeting high-intent audiences worldwide. The company shows strong growth indicators and a clear strategic focus on technology-driven media solutions. Partnerships and subsidiaries enhance its reach and expertise, particularly in the US market. The company maintains a consistent brand image and professional content quality, reinforcing its credibility and competitive advantage.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, domain registration protections, and integration of privacy management tools for GDPR and CCPA compliance. However, the absence of some recommended security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options) and lack of a public vulnerability disclosure policy represent areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. Incident response contact information is not explicitly provided, which could hinder timely reporting of security issues. Overall, the security measures align well with industry standards for a large media company but could be enhanced to further reduce risk.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options headers to strengthen security.
  2. Publish a clear vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  3. Provide explicit incident response contact information (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email addresses) on the website.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and user privacy practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Future PLC
Description
Future PLC is a global platform for specialist media, home to some of the world's most popular media brands and expert content. They provide expert content and technology that build valuable communities across multiple channels including websites, magazines, events, newsletters, and social spaces.
Key services
Media publishing, Advertising solutions, Events, Licensing, Video content, B2B services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Privacy Management SDK (privacy-mgmt.com), WordPress
Frameworks
Bootstrap (implied by navbar classes)
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited domain statuses
  • Use of privacy management scripts for GDPR and CCPA compliance
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
Privacy Management Platform
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured.
  2. Strong brand portfolio with over 200 specialist media brands.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage; contact via form.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and compliance scripts.
  6. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure policy found.
  7. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  8. Domain WHOIS data supports legitimacy and business claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a robust WordPress CMS platform with a modern tech stack including jQuery and Google Tag Manager. Hosting on AWS DNS infrastructure supports scalability and reliability. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices and SEO, with proper meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD) enhancing search visibility. Performance is fast with no major technical debt indicators observed. Privacy management scripts indicate attention to regulatory compliance. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and formalize vulnerability disclosure processes to reduce technical risks.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 69/100Medium30 findingsView report
  2. 69/100Medium30 findingsView report
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