Skip to main content

Security report for handselpress.org.uk

Handsel Press · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

50/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Handsel Press is a small, established not-for-profit publishing company based in the United Kingdom, specializing in Christian academic and popular books, poetry, and related literature. Founded in 1976 and owned by the Handsel Trust, it operates a professional WordPress-based e-commerce website to market and sell its publications. The company targets readers interested in theology, history, and the arts, emphasizing interdisciplinary dialogue and the Scottish democratic intellect tradition. The website features a clean design, clear navigation, and a moderate level of mobile optimization, supporting a positive user experience. Technically, the website leverages WordPress with WooCommerce and Elementor, integrating Google reCAPTCHA v3 for form security and Google Tag Manager for analytics. While the site uses HTTPS with excellent SSL configuration, it lacks explicit security headers and privacy/cookie policies, which are important for compliance and security best practices. Contact information is primarily available through a contact form, with no direct emails or phone numbers published. Social media presence is limited to Facebook. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates basic good practices such as HTTPS and spam protection but could improve by implementing security headers and publishing privacy and cookie policies to enhance GDPR compliance. The domain registration data is consistent with the business history, showing a long-standing and legitimate presence. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional but would benefit from enhanced privacy and security measures to reduce compliance risks and improve user trust.

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

8 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. 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';…

  3. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

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

Keep watching handselpress.org.uk

This scan found 26 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
80
DNS health
70
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
35
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

Handsel Press occupies a niche market in Christian academic and popular publishing, leveraging a not-for-profit business model focused on quality and affordability. Its competitive advantage lies in its long history, specialized content, and interdisciplinary approach. Revenue streams primarily come from book sales via the website. The target customer segment includes academics, theologians, and general readers interested in Christian faith and related arts. Growth indicators include recent book launches and active newsletter subscriptions. The partnership with Simon Peter Media Ltd for website development suggests a professional approach to digital presence. Strategic observations include the need to enhance privacy compliance and security posture to maintain trust and meet regulatory requirements.

Security posture

The website's security maturity is moderate. It employs HTTPS and Google reCAPTCHA v3 to protect forms from spam. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security reduces its defense-in-depth. No incident response or security policy information is published, limiting transparency and preparedness. The lack of privacy and cookie policies is a compliance gap under GDPR and related regulations. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the site is functional and secure at a basic level but requires improvements in security headers, privacy disclosures, and incident response readiness to enhance its security culture and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear GDPR compliance statements and consent mechanisms.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to strengthen security posture.
  3. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress plugins and themes to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and provide direct contact information such as company email and phone number to improve user trust and compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Legal name
Handsel Trust
Registration number
SC014135
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Handsel Press
Description
The Handsel Press was founded in 1976 to publish high quality academic and more popular books relating Christian faith to other fields of study, and to the arts. It operates ‘from the centre . . . beyond the margins . . . ‘. The Press publishes books in categories such as Theology, Bible, Ethics, History, Memoir, biographies, commentaries and poetry at affordable prices. It is owned by the Handsel Trust and is a not-for-profit company.
Key services
Publishing academic and popular books, E-commerce book sales, Newsletter subscription, Book launches and events
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, Google reCAPTCHA v3, Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA v3 on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and content rich with clear focus on Christian academic and popular publishing.
  2. No privacy or cookie policy found, which is a compliance gap.
  3. Contact information is available only via contact form; no direct email or phone found in content.
  4. Use of modern WordPress technologies and plugins with Google reCAPTCHA for spam protection.
  5. No visible security headers detected; security posture can be improved.
  6. No evidence of suspicious or malicious content.
  7. Social media presence limited to Facebook.
  8. No advertising networks detected except Google Tag Manager for analytics.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using WooCommerce for e-commerce functionality and Elementor for page building. It integrates Google reCAPTCHA v3 for spam protection and Google Tag Manager for analytics tracking. The site uses minified CSS and JavaScript for performance optimization and is mobile responsive with good SEO meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). However, no explicit hosting provider information is available. Performance is moderate with room for improvement in caching and resource optimization. The absence of security headers and privacy policies indicates technical debt in security and compliance areas. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but requires enhancements in security and privacy implementations.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with handselpress.org.uk. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review handselpress.org.uk.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.