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Security report for hickleys.com

Hickleys Ltd · Other · N/a

High risk. 6 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Hickleys Ltd operates as a UK-based specialist in diagnostic and garage equipment, complemented by healthcare products, training services, and an automotive workshop. The company targets automotive professionals, locksmiths, healthcare users, and trainees, offering a diversified portfolio of products and services. The website reflects a medium-sized business with a consistent brand presence and good content quality. Technically, the site uses standard web technologies including jQuery and Google Analytics, with moderate performance and basic mobile optimization. Security posture is moderate but lacks visible security headers and explicit HTTPS confirmation in the provided data. Privacy compliance is basic, with a cookie consent banner and a privacy policy page present but no GDPR compliance indicators or detailed security policies. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which raises concerns about domain registration legitimacy despite the active website presence. Overall, the site is professional and safe but would benefit from enhanced security measures and clearer business contact information.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • 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
    • 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

  2. 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

  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 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';…

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Keep watching hickleys.com

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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
72
Security headers
45
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
68
Average
58
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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 hickleys.com, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
596
Employees
2
Customers
584
Third parties
10
Weak passwords
22%

Latest record dated 2025-11-12 · 3 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for hickleys.com.

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Masked preview

  • –mail.hickleys.com2025-11-12
  • –mail.hickleys.com2025-06-18

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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

The company holds a strong market position as a leading UK specialist in automotive diagnostic and garage equipment, supported by complementary healthcare and training services. Its business model combines B2B and B2C sales with educational offerings, targeting niche professional segments. The presence of partner domains for training, healthcare, and auto servicing indicates a broad ecosystem. The website's content and structure support clear navigation and service promotion, though lack of explicit contact details may hinder customer engagement. The absence of WHOIS data is a notable anomaly that could impact trust. The company appears to have stable operations with growth potential in specialized automotive and healthcare sectors.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with basic privacy and cookie consent mechanisms in place. However, the lack of visible security headers, unclear SSL/TLS status, and absence of incident response or vulnerability disclosure information indicate gaps in security best practices. No forms or data collection points were detected on the homepage, reducing immediate risk exposure. The missing WHOIS data is a significant concern for domain legitimacy and trust. Overall, the security posture is adequate for informational purposes but requires improvements to meet higher compliance and protection standards.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce HTTPS with a strong SSL/TLS configuration to secure all website traffic.
  2. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Publish clear contact information including company emails and phone numbers to improve business credibility and customer trust.
  4. Develop and display a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan to demonstrate commitment to security and compliance.
  5. Improve mobile responsiveness and accessibility features to enhance user experience and SEO performance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Hickleys Ltd
Description
Hickleys are the leading UK Diagnostic and Garage Equipment Specialist. They also have a healthcare department, training facility for locksmiths, diagnostic technicians and MOT testers, and an auto service centre.
Key services
Diagnostic Equipment, Key Programming Equipment, Garage Equipment, Auto Service Centre, Training Academy, Auto Educational Equipment, Healthcare & Mobility Products, Keys, Remotes & Transponders
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, CSS3, HTML5
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No visible forms collecting sensitive data on homepage

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. WHOIS data is missing or domain appears unregistered in WHOIS database, which is unusual.
  3. Website uses Google Analytics and Tag Manager for tracking.
  4. Cookie consent banner is implemented indicating some privacy awareness.
  5. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage content.
  6. No security headers detected in provided data; SSL status unknown.
  7. Website content is business-focused, professional, and safe for general audiences.
  8. Multiple related domains linked as partner sites for specialized services.
  9. No forms detected on homepage; no data collection fields visible.
  10. No social media links explicitly found in the provided HTML content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a traditional tech stack with jQuery and Google Analytics for tracking and user insights. The HTML structure is valid with CSS3 styling and some legacy support for older browsers. Performance is moderate with no explicit indicators of optimization or CDN usage. Mobile optimization is basic, with no dedicated responsive CSS detected. Accessibility features are minimal but present. The site lacks modern frameworks or CMS indications, suggesting a custom or legacy build. Hosting provider and SSL configuration details are not available from the provided data, limiting full technical assessment.
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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