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Security report for groundhandling.com

MA Business Ltd (a part of the Mark Allen Group) · Transportation · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Network security and 2 other checks.

Security score

50/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Ground Handling International is a well-established publication and event organizer serving the global ground handling and aviation industry since 1995. It provides industry news, in-depth features, and organizes multiple international conferences, positioning itself as a key voice and community hub for ground handling professionals worldwide. The business operates under MA Business Ltd, part of the Mark Allen Group, based in the UK. Technically, the website uses a standard Bootstrap and jQuery stack with Font Awesome icons, delivering a responsive and professionally designed user experience. However, there is no evidence of advanced CMS or analytics integration in the provided HTML, and performance is moderate. Accessibility and SEO are basic but adequate for the site’s purpose. From a security perspective, the site lacks visible security headers and cookie consent mechanisms, and WHOIS data for the domain is missing, which raises some trust concerns. No forms or user input fields reduce attack surface, but the absence of HTTPS verification and security policies in the content limits the security posture. Privacy compliance is partially met with a clear privacy policy but no cookie consent banner. Overall, the website is professional and trustworthy in content and business representation but would benefit from improved security practices and transparency in domain registration data to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
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

7 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

  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. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • 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

  4. 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

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

Keep watching groundhandling.com

This scan found 25 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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Full report

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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
85
DNS health
80
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
53
Average
50

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

Ground Handling International holds a strong market position as a niche media and event company focused on the ground handling sector within the transportation industry. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing reputation, comprehensive industry coverage, and global conference network. The business model combines publishing and event management, targeting aviation professionals and decision-makers worldwide. Revenue streams likely include magazine subscriptions, advertising, and conference fees. The company benefits from its parent group’s resources and brand recognition. Growth indicators include multiple upcoming international conferences and a digital magazine presence. Partnerships with regional conference sites and aviation suppliers enhance its ecosystem. Strategic observations suggest maintaining digital modernization and enhancing security and privacy compliance to sustain market trust and growth.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic security maturity level with no visible forms or user data collection points, reducing exposure to common web vulnerabilities. However, the lack of HTTPS confirmation, absence of security headers, and missing incident response or security policy pages indicate gaps in security best practices. The missing WHOIS data for the domain is a notable compliance and trust gap. There is no evidence of GDPR cookie consent mechanisms, which may pose compliance risks. The site’s security culture appears minimal based on public content. Business impact of these gaps includes potential reputational risk and regulatory scrutiny. Incident response readiness and data protection officer contact are not evident, suggesting areas for improvement in security governance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce HTTPS with a strong SSL/TLS configuration to secure all site traffic.
  2. Add standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common attacks.
  3. Introduce a cookie consent banner and clearly document cookie usage to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Investigate and resolve WHOIS data availability issues to improve domain registration transparency and trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
MA Business Ltd (a part of the Mark Allen Group)
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MA Business Ltd (a part of the Mark Allen Group)
Description
Ground Handling International is a leading publication serving the global ground handling industry for over 25 years, providing industry news, in-depth features, and coverage relevant to decision-makers in ground handling including above and below wing operations and cargo handling. It also organizes top-level ground handling conferences worldwide.
Key services
Publishing Ground Handling International magazine (print and electronic), Organizing multiple international ground handling conferences and exhibitions
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap, Font Awesome, jQuery
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • No forms detected to collect user input
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

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 WAF or blocking detected.
  2. Content is professionally presented and relevant to the ground handling industry.
  3. No forms or user input fields detected, reducing attack surface.
  4. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banners visible on main page.
  5. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which is unusual for a commercial domain.
  6. Social media presence is linked and consistent with business branding.
  7. No visible security headers or advanced security policies detected in HTML content.
  8. No analytics or tracking scripts detected in provided HTML.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a conventional front-end stack with Bootstrap for responsive design, Font Awesome for icons, and jQuery for JavaScript functionality. The HTML is well-structured with appropriate meta tags for viewport and character encoding. External fonts are loaded from Google Fonts. No CMS or server-side technologies are identifiable from the HTML. Performance is moderate with no heavy scripts detected. Mobile optimization is good due to Bootstrap usage. Accessibility is basic with no ARIA roles or landmarks evident. SEO is basic with title and meta viewport but no Open Graph or structured data found. No analytics or tracking scripts are present in the provided HTML, indicating minimal data collection. Hosting provider and infrastructure details are not discernible from the content.
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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