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Security report for listening-books.org.uk

Listening Books · Non-profit · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Listening Books is a UK-based charitable organization dedicated to providing audiobook lending services to individuals who are print impaired due to illness or disability. The website offers a comprehensive catalog of over 11,000 audiobooks, along with access to newspapers and magazines, targeting individuals, schools, hospices, and care homes. The organization is well-positioned in its niche market with strong trust indicators such as a registered charity number and a notable patron, Sir Stephen Fry. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including jQuery, Google Analytics, and service workers for progressive web app capabilities, hosted partially on Amazon S3 for media assets. The site is well-optimized for mobile and accessibility, with clear navigation and professional design. Security posture is good with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented, though there is room for improvement in security headers and published security policies. WHOIS data could not be retrieved due to an invalid query format, but the website content and trust signals strongly support legitimacy. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature digital presence with a strong focus on accessibility and user support.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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. 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

  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 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';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • 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

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

Keep watching listening-books.org.uk

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.

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Recommended

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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
72
Security headers
65
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
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

The organization operates as a non-profit charity with a membership-based business model subsidized by donations and trusts. Its competitive advantage lies in its specialized service for print impaired users, offering a large and diverse audiobook collection and additional resources like newspapers and magazines. The target market includes individuals with disabilities, educational institutions, and care organizations across the UK. The charity also supports educational initiatives such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Partnerships with technology providers and a professional web design agency indicate a stable operational ecosystem. Growth potential exists in expanding membership and enhancing digital services. The website's clear branding and comprehensive content support strong market positioning and user engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with HTTPS enabled and a cookie consent mechanism in place, indicating GDPR awareness. However, no explicit security headers (e.g., Content Security Policy, HSTS) were detected, which could enhance protection against common web attacks. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response contact information, which are recommended best practices for transparency and readiness. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the analysis. The use of third-party analytics and scripts is standard but should be regularly audited to mitigate risks. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved with additional headers and published policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and provide incident response contact details to improve transparency and trust.
  3. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance monitoring and logging to detect and respond to security incidents promptly.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Listening Books
Registration number
1056004
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Listening Books
Description
Listening Books is a UK-based audiobook lending charity serving individuals who cannot read printed books due to illness or disability. They provide access to over 11,000 audiobooks for adults and children, as well as newspapers and magazines via PressReader. Membership is available for individuals, schools, hospices, and care homes, with free memberships offered to those in need.
Key services
Audiobook lending, Access to newspapers and magazines, Membership for individuals and organizations, Support for schools and educational initiatives, Approved activity provider for Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.5.1, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Font Awesome 4.7.0, Cookie Script, Service Worker (PWA support)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of service worker for PWA
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data found

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation
  2. Strong focus on accessibility and support for print impaired users
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies present
  4. Use of modern web technologies and analytics
  5. No security headers detected in provided data, opportunity for improvement
  6. WHOIS data unavailable due to query error, but no other red flags found
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and stable technology stack including jQuery 3.5.1, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Font Awesome, and a cookie consent solution. It supports progressive web app features via service workers and hosts media assets on Amazon S3, indicating a scalable infrastructure. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and structured data. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in loading speed by optimizing scripts and assets. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and user-friendly experience with room for incremental improvements in performance and security.
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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