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Security report for kirkwells.co.uk

Kirkwells Limited · Real Estate · United Kingdom

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

44/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Kirkwells Limited is a UK-based town and country planning consultancy established in 2010, specializing in providing expert planning advice, permissions, consents, and sustainable development services. The company serves local authorities, developers, businesses, and community groups, positioning itself as a trusted and chartered planning consultancy with award-winning community engagement expertise. Their website reflects a professional business model focused on consultancy services with a clear UK regional focus. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 7.0.1 with jQuery 1.5.1 and integrates Google Analytics for visitor tracking. The site demonstrates moderate performance and basic mobile optimization but lacks advanced accessibility and SEO features. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled but lacks important security headers and uses an outdated jQuery version, which could pose vulnerabilities. Privacy compliance is weak due to the absence of privacy and cookie policies and no visible consent mechanisms. Overall, the security posture is moderate with no critical vulnerabilities detected but room for improvement in security headers, privacy compliance, and updating third-party libraries. The domain WHOIS data is consistent and supports the legitimacy of the business. The website content is safe, professional, and targeted at a general audience interested in planning consultancy. Strategic recommendations include implementing privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms, updating JavaScript libraries, adding security headers, and establishing an incident response contact or policy to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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

  3. 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';…

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Keep watching kirkwells.co.uk

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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
47
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
35
Average
44

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

Kirkwells operates in the real estate sector focusing on town planning consultancy services across the UK. Their competitive advantage lies in their chartered status, award-winning community engagement, and comprehensive planning services. The business model is consultancy-driven, targeting local governments, developers, and community organizations. Revenue streams likely come from consultancy fees for planning applications, appeals, and policy development. The company shows growth indicators through multiple successful neighbourhood plan referendums and a broad service offering. Partnerships with RTPI and regional technology centers enhance credibility and market reach. The website content and external links reflect a well-established network and professional ecosystem.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enabled and no visible sensitive data exposure. However, the use of an outdated jQuery version and absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represent potential vulnerabilities. There is no evidence of a published security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure mechanism, indicating gaps in security governance and compliance. Privacy compliance is weak, lacking GDPR-aligned policies and cookie consent mechanisms. The business impact of these gaps includes potential risks of client data exposure and regulatory non-compliance. Overall, the security culture appears basic with room for improvement in formalizing policies and technical safeguards.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to ensure GDPR compliance.
  2. Upgrade jQuery and other third-party libraries to current secure versions to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  3. Add essential security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Strict-Transport-Security) to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  4. Publish a security policy and establish clear incident response contact channels to improve security governance and client trust.
  5. Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing to identify and remediate vulnerabilities proactively.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Kirkwells Limited
Registration number
07477833
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Kirkwells Limited
Description
Kirkwells Limited is a town and country planning consultancy providing expert planning advice, planning permissions and consents, local and neighbourhood plans, urban design and masterplanning services across the UK. They focus on sustainable development and community engagement.
Key services
Pre-Application Advice, Planning Applications and Consents, Planning Appeals, Heritage Statements, Neighbourhood Planning, Local Plans and Planning Policy, Sustainable Development, Urban Design and Masterplanning, Community Engagement, Site Search and Appraisal
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 7.0.1, jQuery 1.5.1, Google Analytics
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional town planning consultancy site with clear business focus.
  2. No privacy or cookie policy pages found, which is a compliance gap.
  3. Uses WordPress CMS with somewhat outdated jQuery version.
  4. No visible security headers detected in HTML content.
  5. Contact information is clearly presented with emails and phone numbers.
  6. No forms detected on the homepage; contact likely via email or phone.
  7. External links mostly to professional and partner domains.
  8. Google Analytics is used for tracking without visible cookie consent.
  9. No evidence of security incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 7.0.1, a widely used CMS, with jQuery 1.5.1 loaded from Google's CDN, which is outdated and may expose the site to known vulnerabilities. Google Analytics is used for visitor tracking via the legacy ga.js script. The site uses standard HTML5 and CSS with inline styles and WordPress block styles. Performance is moderate with multiple images and scripts but no advanced optimization detected. Mobile optimization is basic with responsive columns but no advanced adaptive features. Accessibility features are minimal, with some screen-reader text present. SEO is basic with meta tags and canonical links but no Open Graph or JSON-LD structured data found. Hosting provider is not explicitly identified but domain registrar is Ionos SE. Overall, the technical infrastructure is functional but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security practices.
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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