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Is hwca.com a Scam? Security Check Results - Haines Watts Group

hwca.com Security Report Summary

hwca.com received a security score of 69 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers Haines Watts Group's website security posture. Haines Watts Group operates in the Finance industry in United Kingdom.

Haines Watts Group is a UK-based professional services firm specializing in chartered accountancy, VAT, tax advisory, and business advisory services. The company targets business owners and entrepreneurs, offering a broad range of services including accounting, auditing, payroll, and outsourced accounting. The website reflects a mature and professional market position with consistent branding and good content quality. Technically, the site is built on the Umbraco CMS platform, leveraging modern web technologies such as Google Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA, and Cookiebot for privacy compliance. Performance and mobile optimization are good, though accessibility could be improved. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and secure form handling, but lacks a publicly available security policy or incident response information. The domain WHOIS data is missing or privacy protected, which slightly reduces trust but is common for professional firms. Overall, the website is trustworthy, compliant with GDPR, and provides clear contact and social media information.

The security scan identified 30 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA, jQuery, Umbraco CMS, Cookiebot.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and business-context intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is hwca.com Safe? Security Analysis for Haines Watts Group

https://www.hwca.com/

Check if hwca.com is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

FinanceUnited Kingdomlarge
Google Tag ManagerGoogle reCAPTCHAjQueryUmbraco CMSCookiebot
Analyzed Completed
69
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Finance avg (78)

GDPR-aligned

Data handling

EU

Hosting region

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AI Summary

Haines Watts Group is a UK-based professional services firm specializing in chartered accountancy, VAT, tax advisory, and business advisory services. The company targets business owners and entrepreneurs, offering a broad range of services including accounting, auditing, payroll, and outsourced accounting. The website reflects a mature and professional market position with consistent branding and good content quality. Technically, the site is built on the Umbraco CMS platform, leveraging modern web technologies such as Google Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA, and Cookiebot for privacy compliance. Performance and mobile optimization are good, though accessibility could be improved. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and secure form handling, but lacks a publicly available security policy or incident response information. The domain WHOIS data is missing or privacy protected, which slightly reduces trust but is common for professional firms. Overall, the website is trustworthy, compliant with GDPR, and provides clear contact and social media information.

Detected Technologies

Google Tag ManagerGoogle reCAPTCHAjQueryUmbraco CMSCookiebot

7 urgent findings need attention

7 high

Continuous monitoring

Keep hwca.com under constant watch

Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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OffSeq Observations

No critical findings yet

81/100

Email Security

3 findings

83/100

SSL/TLS Security

6 findings

64/100

DNS Health

3 findings

80/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The company operates in the finance sector, focusing on essential professional services for businesses. Its business model revolves around providing expert advisory and compliance services to SMEs and larger enterprises. The firm maintains a strong digital presence with integrated marketing and analytics tools, indicating a strategic approach to client engagement and lead generation. The absence of WHOIS data suggests privacy protection, which is typical for firms handling sensitive client information. The firm’s partnerships and external links include major platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, and HubSpot, supporting its marketing and client outreach efforts.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with HTTPS, modern security headers, and use of reCAPTCHA to prevent automated abuse. Cookie consent is managed via Cookiebot, ensuring GDPR compliance. However, the lack of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency and preparedness perception. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. The security score is high but could be improved by publishing formal security and incident response documentation and conducting regular third-party script audits.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and compliance.

Observations

Comprehensive website and business-context analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Haines Watts Group

Description:

At Haines Watts, we offer professional services to people who run their own business, delivered by people who understand them, and share their ambitions, passion and commitment... helping achieve

Key Services:
AccountingAuditingTax AdvisoryBusiness AdvisoryOutsourced AccountingPayroll
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Google Tag ManagerGoogle reCAPTCHAjQueryUmbraco CMSCookiebot
Frameworks:
Umbraco
Platforms:
Web
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of reCAPTCHA for forms
  • Cookie consent with opt-in/out
  • CSRF token usage in forms

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsHubSpot
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Ad Networks:
Google AdSense
Tracking Pixels:
HubSpotCookiebot
Marketing Tools:
HubSpot
Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is professionally designed and content-rich

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

55/100
Score

Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration

LOW

Current value: "max-age=10886400"

Weak X-Frame-Options configuration

LOW

Current value: "SAMEORIGIN, sameorigin"

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

83/100
Score

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
emailphoneform

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: energy, transport, banking, health, digital

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📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

83/100
Score

Complex SPF record

LOW

Too many include statements can cause lookup limits

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 ip4:185.175.36.0/24 ip4:212.71.246.168 ip4:18.132.78.143 mx include:mail.zendesk.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:spf.uk.exclaimer.net include:_spf.psm.knowbe4.com include:49359800.spf02.hubspotemail.net -all
DNS Lookups:6/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:selector1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:selector2(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:mail(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:dkim(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:quarantine
Subdomain Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:[email protected]

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

64/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 62 days

Short HSTS Max-Age

LOW

HSTS max-age is less than 1 year

HSTS Missing includeSubDomains

LOW

HSTS header does not include subdomains

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
30 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
none(1392 days)
Protection Level
moderateDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:185.162.225.73
Name Servers:
ns1.verticalweb.co.uk
ns2.verticalweb.co.uk
ns3.verticalweb.co.uk
ns4.verticalweb.co.uk
MX Records:
0: hwca-com.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 1782231570, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Enabled(Algorithm: 13)

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:30ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 ip4:185.175.36.0/24 ip4:212.71.246.168 ip4:18.132.78.143 mx include:mail.zendesk.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:spf.uk.exclaimer.net include:_spf.psm.knowbe4.com include:49359800.spf02.hubspotemail.net -all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

How does hwca.com compare?

See how hwca.com stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on the Umbraco CMS platform, utilizing jQuery and modern JavaScript libraries. It integrates Google Tag Manager and HubSpot for analytics and marketing automation, alongside Cookiebot for cookie consent management. The site is mobile responsive with good SEO metadata and Open Graph tags for social sharing. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in loading speed and accessibility. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, supporting a professional online presence with secure form handling and anti-bot measures.
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Optional add-ons

via BREACH

Your order

Full Report
PDF · email delivery · lifetime access
39.90
Total
Incl. 21% VAT
39.90
Already purchased? Enter unlock code
VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Payvia EveryPay
SEQ SIA
Reg. No. 40203410806 · VAT LV40203410806

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