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Security report for gbdirect.co.uk

GBdirect · Technology · United Kingdom

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and Email security.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

GBdirect is a UK-based company specializing in IT training, consultancy, and software development services. The company positions itself as a premier supplier of IT training in the UK, offering a broad range of courses and consultancy services tailored to business needs. Their website reflects a mature business with multiple dedicated subdomains for different service areas, indicating a segmented and organized business model. The target audience primarily includes IT professionals and organizations seeking specialized training and consultancy. Technically, the website uses standard web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and integrates Google Analytics and Google Custom Search Engine for analytics and search functionality. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile use but lacks advanced accessibility features. SEO is basic but present through meta tags and structured navigation. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS as indicated by canonical URLs, but no explicit security headers were detected in the provided data. There is no cookie consent mechanism, and no published security or incident response policies were found. The absence of contact emails and phone numbers on the main pages reduces direct communication channels. The WHOIS data aligns well with the business claims, supporting legitimacy. Overall, GBdirect presents a professional and credible online presence with room for improvement in security practices and privacy compliance. Enhancing security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing clear security policies would strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

NIS2 outside view
55/ 100 · Medium
GDPR outside view
75/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
9of 9

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

The NIS2 figure counts only evidence anyone can see from the internet. 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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      Tracking cookies set without a consent banner

      Observed on the first page load as a new visitor, before any consent choice; Guard does not click the banner. The site set 5 analytics or marketing cookies: Google Analytics (__utma, __utmc, __utmz, __utmt). No consent banner or consent platform was detected (Guard scans from the EU, so EU-only banners would have been shown).

      What to do: Load analytics and marketing tags only after the visitor opts in, using a consent banner that offers accept and reject with equal prominence.

  2. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • High

      Invalid SPF Record

      Unknown SPF mechanism "~all"". Receivers treat a broken SPF record as a permanent error.

      What to do: Publish exactly one "v=spf1" record and make sure every include: and redirect= target has its own SPF record.

    • High

      No DMARC record found

      There is no DMARC record at _dmarc.gbdirect.co.uk, so receivers have no instruction for mail that fails SPF and DKIM.

      What to do: Publish a TXT record at _dmarc.gbdirect.co.uk, starting with "v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@gbdirect.co.uk" and moving to p=quarantine or p=reject once reports look clean.

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

Keep watching gbdirect.co.uk

This scan found 19 issues across 7 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

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  • 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
89
Security headers
50
Email security
52
DNS health
95
Network security
100
Website hygiene
95
GDPR outside view
75
Average
79

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.
  • Accessibility: Accessibility is a separate readout from security, so it is reported but not scored. 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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention gbdirect.co.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for gbdirect.co.uk right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

GBdirect operates in the competitive UK IT training and consultancy market, leveraging a diversified service portfolio including training, consultancy, project management, software development, and internet marketing. Their business model focuses on delivering both public and in-house training courses, catering to a broad range of IT professionals and businesses. The use of multiple subdomains for specialized services suggests a strategic approach to market segmentation and brand clarity. The company appears to maintain a small but focused operation with a strong emphasis on quality service at realistic prices. The presence of a privacy statement and terms of service indicates awareness of regulatory requirements, though cookie compliance is lacking. The partnership ecosystem is internal, with no external partners explicitly identified. Growth indicators are not directly visible but the breadth of offerings and longevity suggest stable operations.

Security posture

The security posture of GBdirect is moderate. The use of HTTPS is a positive baseline security measure. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security reduces protection against common web attacks. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism and no visible incident response or security policy pages indicate gaps in compliance and preparedness. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content, but the lack of explicit security best practices and contact channels for security incidents is a concern. Overall, the security culture appears basic and would benefit from formalized policies and technical enhancements to improve resilience and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against web vulnerabilities.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner and detailed cookie policy to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Include clear company contact emails and phone numbers on the website to facilitate communication and trust.
  5. Conduct a security audit to identify and remediate any hidden vulnerabilities and improve overall security posture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
GBdirect
Description
GBdirect is one of the UK's premier suppliers of training in IT and related fields, offering a wide range of courses both public and in-house. They also provide consultancy, project management, software development, internet marketing, and server virtualization services.
Key services
IT Training, IT Consultancy, Project Management, Software Development, Internet Marketing, Server Virtualization
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Google Analytics, Google Custom Search Engine
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
50/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by canonical and og:url https URLs)
  • Google site verification meta tag

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
Google Custom Search Engine
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges
  2. Content is focused on IT training and consultancy services
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent mechanisms detected
  4. Use of Google Analytics and Google Custom Search Engine for tracking and search
  5. No visible security headers in provided data
  6. Multiple subdomains used for different business functions
  7. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on main page
  8. Presence of privacy statement and terms of service pages
  9. No social media links detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using traditional web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) with integration of Google Analytics and Google Custom Search Engine. The site structure uses multiple subdomains to separate service areas, which is a good organizational practice. Performance is moderate with basic mobile optimization and accessibility features. SEO is supported by meta tags and structured navigation but could be improved with modern techniques. No CMS or advanced frameworks were detected, indicating a possibly custom or static site architecture. The lack of visible security headers and cookie consent mechanisms suggests technical debt in security and privacy compliance areas. Hosting provider details are not evident from the data. Overall, the technical infrastructure is functional but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security controls.
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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