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Security report for highvaluebiorenewables.net

High Value Biorenewables Network · Energy · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The High Value Biorenewables Network (HVB) is a UK-based academic and industry collaboration network focused on industrial biotechnology and bioenergy, supported by the BBSRC. The website serves as a hub for promoting bio-based chemical development, facilitating partnerships, and providing leadership within the UK biotechnology community. The site is professionally designed, mobile-optimized, and uses modern web technologies including SeeCMS, jQuery, and Google Analytics for user tracking. However, the absence of WHOIS registration data raises concerns about domain legitimacy, although the website's affiliations with reputable institutions like the University of York and BBSRC lend credibility. Privacy and cookie policies are present but basic, and no direct contact emails or phone numbers are provided on the site, limiting direct communication channels. Security posture is moderate with no visible security headers or incident response information, suggesting room for improvement in security transparency and best practices.

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

4 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 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
    • High

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 23 days

      What to do: Renew SSL certificate before expiration

      • NIS2 21(2)(h)
      • IR 2024/2690 9.2(c): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 9.2(c): Cryptography
      • NIST SC-17: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-17: Public Key Infrastructure Certificates

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.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
52
Security headers
65
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
70

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

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 highvaluebiorenewables.net, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for highvaluebiorenewables.net 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

HVB operates as a strategic network facilitating collaboration between UK academia and industry in the biorenewables sector. Its business model is membership-based with free access, targeting researchers, companies, and stakeholders in industrial biotechnology and bioenergy. The network leverages partnerships with government research councils and academic institutions to maintain its market position. The website content and structure support knowledge sharing and event promotion, indicating a focus on community building and sector leadership. The lack of direct contact information and limited privacy compliance details may impact user trust and engagement. The network's reliance on established UK research bodies enhances its competitive advantage and credibility within its niche market.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. It uses HTTPS (assumed from external scripts loaded via HTTPS), but no explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy or HSTS were detected. There is no visible incident response or vulnerability disclosure information, and no security contact emails are provided. The use of outdated jQuery 2.2.4 could pose potential vulnerabilities if not patched. Google Analytics is implemented, indicating some user tracking but no advanced privacy controls are evident. Overall, the site lacks comprehensive security transparency and could benefit from enhanced security headers, updated libraries, and published incident response policies to improve trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Update JavaScript libraries to latest secure versions to mitigate known vulnerabilities.
  3. Publish clear security and incident response policies including contact channels for reporting issues.
  4. Enhance privacy compliance by detailing GDPR adherence and data retention policies.
  5. Add verified contact information such as company emails and phone numbers to improve user trust and communication.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
High Value Biorenewables Network
Description
The High Value Biorenewables Network (HVB) is a BBSRC Phase II Network in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy that promotes collaboration between academia and industry in the biorenewables sector. It focuses on discovery, development, and application of bio-based chemicals, tools, and platform technologies, facilitating partnerships and knowledge transfer in the UK.
Key services
Promoting bio-based chemical and technology development, Facilitating academia-industry partnerships, Providing leadership to the UK Industrial Biotechnology community
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 2.2.4, Slick Carousel, Modernizr, Google Analytics, FontAwesome
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
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 challenge.
  2. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which is unusual for an active domain.
  3. Website uses a custom CMS (SeeCMS) and modern JavaScript libraries.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage or header/footer.
  5. Privacy, cookie, and terms policies are present but basic.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies visible.
  7. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  8. Content is professional and targeted at biotechnology and bioenergy sectors.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected.
  10. Google Analytics is used for tracking with moderate user tracking level.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on SeeCMS, a custom content management system, and uses common JavaScript libraries such as jQuery 2.2.4, Slick Carousel, and Modernizr. Google Analytics is used for visitor tracking, and FontAwesome provides iconography. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design elements and includes basic accessibility features. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected in the HTML structure. SEO is basic with meta tags and Open Graph tags present but minimal. Hosting provider details are not discernible from the content. The site would benefit from modernizing its tech stack and improving accessibility and SEO for better user experience and search visibility.
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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