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Security report for maclachlan.ie

MacLachlan & Donaldson · Other · Ireland

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

51/100

Risk levelMedium

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

MacLachlan & Donaldson is a well-established intellectual property law firm based in Ireland with over 50 years of experience. The firm offers comprehensive IP services including patents, trade marks, designs, and commercialisation, serving clients across Ireland, the UK, the EU, and globally. Their market position is strong, recognized among the top EU firms for trade mark filings, supported by a professional and content-rich website. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins and frameworks, delivering good performance and mobile optimization. Security posture is solid with HTTPS, reCAPTCHA, and cookie consent mechanisms, though improvements such as DNSSEC and enhanced security headers are recommended. Overall, the website reflects a credible and trustworthy business with clear contact channels and compliance with privacy regulations.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 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. 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';…

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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. 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

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

Keep watching maclachlan.ie

This scan found 28 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

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Full report

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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
52
Security headers
15
Email security
55
DNS health
65
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
80
Average
51

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 firm targets businesses and innovators requiring IP protection, leveraging a professional service model with offices in Dublin and Belfast. Their competitive advantage lies in extensive experience, international reach, and strong client testimonials. The business model is service-oriented, focusing on legal expertise and client relationships. Marketing tools include SEO optimization and email newsletters. Partnerships, such as with Ansons in Belfast, enhance regional coverage. Growth indicators include active content updates and engagement with clients via multiple channels.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, use of Google reCAPTCHA on forms, and a GDPR-compliant cookie consent banner. However, the absence of DNSSEC and some advanced security headers suggests room for enhancement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could improve transparency and trust. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Overall, the security measures are adequate for the business type but could be strengthened to align with best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  3. Implement additional HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  4. Provide clear incident response contact information on the website.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party plugins and scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
MacLachlan & Donaldson
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MacLachlan & Donaldson
Description
MacLachlan & Donaldson is one of Ireland’s leading Intellectual Property firms, having rigorously served clients’ rights for more than 50 years. They offer expert services in patents, trade marks, designs, and commercialisation with offices in Dublin and Belfast, serving Ireland, the UK, EU, and globally.
Key services
Patents, Trade Marks, Designs, Commercialisation, IP Consultation
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Avada Theme, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, reCAPTCHA, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, Strong Testimonials plugin
Frameworks
Bootstrap (JS components), Fusion Builder
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA on forms
  • Cookie consent banner with user control
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Marketing tools
Campaign Monitor (email marketing)
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and content-rich
  2. Clear focus on intellectual property legal services
  3. Multiple contact methods including phone, email, and forms
  4. Cookie consent and privacy policy present and compliant
  5. No visible security or phishing issues
  6. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices
  7. No WAF or blocking detected, full content accessible
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses WordPress CMS with the Avada theme and several plugins including Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, and Strong Testimonials. It integrates Google Analytics and Tag Manager for tracking and uses Google reCAPTCHA for form security. The site is hosted via Register 365 with nameservers indicating Irish hosting. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, supporting the firm's professional image and business needs.
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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