Instruct Studio is a small, multi-disciplinary design studio based in Manchester, UK, specializing in design, print, and digital services primarily for the architectural, media, and cultural sectors. The company has an established market presence since 2015 and positions itself as a provider of honest and strategic design solutions. Their website reflects a professional and consistent brand image with clear contact information and social media presence. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern plugins such as Yoast SEO and integrates third-party services like Vimeo and Google Analytics, indicating a moderate level of digital maturity. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enforced and anti-bot measures in place, but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC, which are recommended for enhanced protection. Privacy compliance is a notable gap, as no privacy or cookie policies were found, which could expose the business to regulatory risks. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional but would benefit from improved privacy and security practices.
Scanned ·
NIS2 and GDPR posture
GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7
NIS2 Art. 21(2)
a(a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
b(b) Incident handling: One indicator
c(c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
d(d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
e(e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
f(f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
g(g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
h(h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
i(i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
j(j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside
Partly checked
One indicator
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
7 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.
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.
Critical
Unable to retrieve SSL certificate
Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information
What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured
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"
This scan found 21 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.
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
0
Security headers
40
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
53
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 instruct.studio, from OffSeq Breach.
No leaked records found
Breach holds no records for instruct.studio right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.
Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.
Business context
Business profile
The business operates in the media and design sector, targeting clients in architecture, media, and culture. Its business model revolves around providing multi-disciplinary design services including print and digital solutions. The company leverages partnerships such as OH Digital for website development and maintains active social media channels to engage its audience. The domain age and WHOIS data support the legitimacy and stability of the business. Growth potential is supported by a clear portfolio and journal sections, although no explicit revenue or certification information is available. The company appears focused on regional market leadership with a strong emphasis on quality and strategic design.
Security posture
The website demonstrates a baseline security posture with HTTPS and clientTransferProhibited domain status. The use of ALTCHA anti-bot widget adds protection against automated abuse. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces the overall security robustness. No incident response or security policy information is published, which limits transparency and preparedness visibility. The lack of privacy and cookie policies also indicates compliance gaps with GDPR and related regulations. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Security improvements are recommended to align with best practices and regulatory requirements.
Recommendations
Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance details.
Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve protection against common web attacks.
Establish and publish a security incident response policy and contact channels to improve transparency and readiness.
Regularly review and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities and maintain performance.
Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.
Business
Company
Instruct Studio
Description
Good, honest design and strategic direction for brands and digital platforms. We co-founded and produce Design Manchester.
Key services
design, print, digital platforms, strategic direction
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent
Technology
Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, jQuery, Vimeo Player API, ALTCHA anti-bot widget
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good
Security
Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
HTTPS enforced
clientTransferProhibited domain status
ALTCHA anti-bot widget implemented
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
high
Key observations
Website is a professional design studio site with clear branding and contact info
No privacy or cookie policies found which is a compliance gap
Uses modern web technologies and SEO best practices
No visible security headers or advanced security policies
WHOIS data is consistent and domain is well aged
No signs of malicious or suspicious content
Technical notes
Notes
The website is built on WordPress CMS with Yoast SEO plugin for search optimization and uses jQuery and Vimeo Player API for interactive content. The hosting appears to be managed via Name.com based on nameservers. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with meta tags and structured data in JSON-LD format. The site uses Google Analytics for user tracking and ALTCHA widget for bot protection. There is no evidence of outdated or vulnerable libraries in the provided HTML. The site could benefit from enhanced accessibility and performance optimizations to improve user experience further.
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.
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