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Security report for iliffemedia.co.uk

Iliffe Media Group Ltd · Media · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Iliffe Media Group Ltd is a well-established UK-based regional media company delivering trusted news, information, and entertainment across multiple counties in South East England, East of England, East Anglia, and the Midlands. Their portfolio spans newspapers, websites, magazines, radio, and television, complemented by digital marketing services such as PPC, social media marketing, and website design. The company leverages a heritage of over 300 years, with flagship titles like the Stamford Mercury and Kentish Gazette, positioning itself as a trusted and influential media group in its regions. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including JavaScript libraries, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, and Bootstrap for responsive design. The site is mobile-optimized with good SEO practices and moderate performance. Security-wise, HTTPS is enforced with no visible exposed sensitive data, though security headers and explicit security policies are absent. Cookie consent is implemented, but no privacy policy was found in the provided content, indicating room for improvement in privacy compliance. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from enhanced security headers and incident response disclosures. The business credibility is strong, supported by consistent domain registration data and transparent audience metrics. The website provides clear contact channels via email and a contact page, though phone numbers and physical addresses are not explicitly listed in the HTML content. Strategically, Iliffe Media should focus on improving privacy policy visibility, implementing security best practices such as security headers, and publishing incident response and vulnerability disclosure information to enhance trust and compliance. These steps will strengthen their security posture and align with regulatory expectations, supporting their market position as a trusted media provider.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 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. 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

    • 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

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google Analytics, Cloudflare

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

  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

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
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  • 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
77
Security headers
75
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
73

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

Iliffe Media Group operates as a regional multimedia business with a diversified portfolio including print, online, radio, and television media. Their competitive advantage lies in their long-standing heritage and trusted local presence across multiple counties. The business model combines traditional media publishing with digital marketing services, targeting both consumers and businesses in their regions. Revenue streams likely include advertising, subscriptions, digital marketing services, and event hosting. The company maintains partnerships with related media and print service providers, enhancing its service ecosystem. Growth indicators include a large online audience, digital subscribers, and active social media following. The company’s operations reflect a strategic blend of heritage media and digital innovation, positioning it well in the evolving media landscape.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and no visible sensitive data exposure. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options indicates potential gaps in defense-in-depth. No explicit incident response or security policy information is published, which may impact readiness and transparency. The use of third-party analytics and tracking scripts introduces moderate user tracking, necessitating robust privacy controls. GDPR compliance is partially indicated by cookie consent but lacks a visible privacy policy. Overall, the security culture appears functional but could be enhanced by formalizing policies, improving header configurations, and publishing vulnerability disclosure mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive privacy policy accessible from the homepage and footer.
  2. Add and configure security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Publish an incident response policy and provide dedicated security contact channels (e.g., security@ or abuse@ emails).
  4. Conduct regular audits of third-party scripts to minimize vulnerabilities and privacy risks.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet recognized standards and improve user inclusivity.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Iliffe Media Group Ltd
Description
Iliffe Media Group and its associated media brands deliver trusted news, information and entertainment to millions of people across 11 counties in South East England, the East of England, East Anglia and the Midlands. Their portfolio includes newspapers, websites, magazines, radio and television. They also provide digital marketing services including online search advertising (PPC), social media marketing, and website design.
Key services
Newspapers, Websites, Magazines, Radio, Television, Digital marketing (PPC, social media, website design)
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar, Select2, Font Awesome
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of async loading for analytics and tracking scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar
Marketing tools
Hotjar, Select2
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and multimedia.
  2. Strong regional media presence with multiple publications and digital platforms.
  3. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  4. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented.
  5. No explicit privacy policy page found in the provided content.
  6. Contact information is available via email and contact page.
  7. No visible security.txt or incident response information.
  8. No explicit security certifications or compliance frameworks mentioned.
  9. No phone numbers or physical addresses explicitly found in the HTML content.
  10. Multiple external links to partner and related media sites.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including JavaScript libraries (jQuery, Select2), analytics tools (Google Analytics, Hotjar), and responsive design frameworks (Bootstrap). The site is mobile-optimized and structured with proper meta tags for SEO. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of scripts to improve load times. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting provider details are not evident from the HTML content. Technical risks include reliance on multiple third-party scripts which require ongoing security monitoring. Opportunities exist to improve technical SEO, accessibility, and security header implementation to reduce technical debt and enhance resilience.
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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