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Security report for internationaldistributionservices.com

International Distribution Services plc · Transportation · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

International Distribution Services plc is a large UK-based holding company specializing in parcel and mail distribution services, owning major subsidiaries such as Royal Mail and GLS. The company operates in the transportation sector with a focus on logistics and multi-channel parcel delivery solutions. The website reflects a professional corporate presence targeting investors, customers, and regulatory bodies. Technically, the site uses modern JavaScript libraries, Google Tag Manager for analytics, and Cookiebot for cookie consent, built on the Umbraco CMS platform. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections, though improvements can be made by enabling DNSSEC and publishing explicit security policies. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the site is trustworthy, well-branded, and provides comprehensive business information aligned with WHOIS data.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 100 · Low
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. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

    • High

      No SPF record found

      SPF helps prevent email spoofing

      What to do: Add SPF record: "v=spf1 include:_spf.yourmailprovider.com ~all"

  2. 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"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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';…

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching internationaldistributionservices.com

This scan found 25 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.

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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
67
Security headers
15
Email security
40
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
63

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

The company holds a strong market position in the UK and European logistics and postal services sectors, leveraging its subsidiaries Royal Mail and GLS. Its business model as a holding company allows centralized management of these entities. The website content and linked domains confirm a well-established partnership ecosystem. The presence of sustainability and investor relations content indicates a mature corporate governance approach. The company targets a broad audience including investors, customers, and regulators, with clear navigation to relevant sections. The acquisition of a stake in Collect+ highlights strategic growth in multi-channel parcel networks.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS and clientTransferProhibited domain status. However, no advanced security headers were detected in the HTML content, and no published security policy or incident response contacts were found. The absence of a security.txt file and vulnerability disclosure policy suggests room for improvement in transparency and incident management readiness. Cookie consent is implemented via Cookiebot, supporting GDPR compliance. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be enhanced with additional security best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement and configure security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to harden the website against common web attacks.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy page and provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Add a security.txt file at the root of the website to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerable versions are in use and maintain up-to-date dependencies.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
International Distribution Services plc
Registration number
8680755
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
International Distribution Services plc
Description
International Distribution Services is a holding company for Royal Mail and GLS, focusing on parcel and mail distribution services internationally. It provides logistics and delivery services, including multi-channel parcel point networks.
Key services
Parcel delivery, Mail distribution, Logistics services, Multi-channel parcel point network
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Slick Carousel, Google Tag Manager, Cookiebot
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Client transfer prohibited domain status
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Cookiebot
Marketing tools
Cookiebot
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured.
  2. Content is relevant and targeted to investors, customers, and regulators.
  3. No signs of phishing or malware.
  4. Social media links point to verified Royal Mail accounts.
  5. No direct company emails or phone numbers found on the main page; contact is via forms and external links.
  6. Cookie consent is implemented via Cookiebot.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response contacts published.
  8. WHOIS data is transparent and consistent with business claims.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Umbraco CMS platform, utilizing jQuery and Slick Carousel for UI components, with Google Tag Manager and Cookiebot integrated for analytics and cookie consent management. The site uses asynchronous loading of scripts and CSS for performance optimization. The design is responsive and mobile-friendly with good navigation clarity. No major technical debt or deprecated technologies were detected. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement by optimizing image sizes and leveraging modern JavaScript frameworks. Accessibility is basic but could be enhanced with more ARIA attributes and keyboard navigation support.
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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