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Security report for literatureworks.org.uk

Literature Works · Non-profit · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Literature Works is a UK-based charity and the regional literature development agency for South West England. Established in 2012, it focuses on supporting creative writers and communities through storytelling, writing, and reading initiatives. The organization operates as an Arts Council England National Portfolio organization, providing a range of services including talent development, advice surgeries, and community writing projects. The website reflects a professional and well-structured digital presence, targeting creative writers and literary communities in the region. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 7.0 with modern plugins such as Yoast SEO and Events Calendar Pro. It uses Google Analytics for tracking and integrates Mailchimp for newsletter subscriptions. The site is hosted by Fasthosts Internet Ltd, with SSL properly configured ensuring secure HTTPS connections. The design is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices implemented. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks visible security headers and does not provide explicit security or incident response policies. There is no cookie consent mechanism detected, which is a compliance gap given GDPR requirements. No vulnerabilities or suspicious domains were found. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved with additional policies and technical headers. The overall risk assessment is low, with the site demonstrating strong business credibility and technical maturity. Strategic recommendations include implementing a cookie consent banner, publishing security policies, adding security headers, and maintaining regular security audits to enhance compliance and trust.

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

6 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 384-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

  2. 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

  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

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

Keep watching literatureworks.org.uk

This scan found 26 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

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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
37
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
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

Literature Works occupies a niche market as a regional literature development charity in South West England. Its competitive advantage lies in its established relationships with Arts Council England and its role as a National Portfolio organization. The business model is non-profit, focusing on community engagement and talent nurturing rather than commercial revenue. Revenue streams likely include grants, memberships, and donations. The target customers are emerging and established creative writers, literary communities, and cultural organizations in the region. Growth indicators include ongoing projects, events, and active social media engagement. Partnerships with organizations like Quay Words and The Idea Bureau enhance its ecosystem. The website content and structure reflect a mature operation with clear strategic focus on literature and community wellbeing.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and no sensitive data is exposed in the HTML content. The use of reputable hosting and CMS platforms reduces risk. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security is a gap. There is no published incident response or security policy, which limits transparency and readiness perception. GDPR compliance is partially addressed with a privacy policy but lacks cookie consent mechanisms. No vulnerabilities or malicious indicators were detected. The security culture appears cautious but could benefit from formalized policies and technical enhancements to meet best practices and regulatory expectations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a GDPR-compliant cookie consent banner to inform users and obtain consent for tracking.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  3. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve protection against common web attacks.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party plugins and scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting and improve security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Literature Works
Registration number
06858956
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Literature Works
Description
We are a charity in South West England using words and stories to support creativity and wellbeing. We connect people and communities, we nurture talent and we break down barriers. We champion the power of storytelling, writing and reading in all forms.
Key services
Creative opportunities for emerging writers, Writers' register, Advice surgeries, Talent development, Literature projects and events
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 7.0, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Analytics (gtag.js), jQuery 3.6.0, Alpine.js (x-data attributes), Events Calendar Pro plugin
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern analytics with consent
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Mailchimp
Marketing tools
Mailchimp
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established charity focused on literature development in South West England.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and professionally presented.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  4. No cookie consent mechanism detected despite GDPR relevance.
  5. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices.
  7. Clear contact information and social media presence.
  8. No phone numbers explicitly provided.
  9. No security headers detected in provided data.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress 7.0 platform with a well-maintained theme and plugins including Yoast SEO and Events Calendar Pro. It uses Google Analytics and Mailchimp for analytics and marketing. The hosting provider is Fasthosts Internet Ltd, a reputable UK-based host. The site loads with moderate speed and is optimized for mobile devices with responsive design. Accessibility features are present, and SEO metadata is comprehensive, including Open Graph and JSON-LD structured data. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated technologies. Opportunities exist to enhance security headers and implement cookie consent mechanisms to improve compliance 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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