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Security report for markbatesltd.com

Mark Bates Ltd · Other · United Kingdom

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and Security headers.

Security score

78/100

Risk levelLow

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

Mark Bates Ltd is a UK-based specialist insurance provider offering a wide range of insurance and warranty policies focused on mobility, home, care, and leisure sectors. The company has a strong market presence supported by over 20,000 positive customer reviews and official partnerships, positioning it as a trusted provider in its niche. Their business model centers on providing direct online quotes and policy management through a customer portal, enhancing user convenience and engagement. Technically, the website is built as a modern Angular single-page application, leveraging contemporary web technologies and integrating analytics and live chat services to improve customer interaction and marketing effectiveness. The site is mobile-optimized and demonstrates good SEO practices, though accessibility could be further enhanced. Security-wise, the website enforces HTTPS and employs domain transfer protections, but could improve by enabling DNSSEC and implementing additional security headers. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear cookie consent mechanisms and a comprehensive privacy policy. Overall, the website reflects a professional, secure, and user-friendly digital presence aligned with the company's business objectives.

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

3 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 256-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. 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';…

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Keep watching markbatesltd.com

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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
70
Email security
98
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
78

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

Mark Bates Ltd operates in the specialist insurance sector, targeting individuals and organizations requiring niche insurance products such as mobility scooter insurance, home employment insurance, and personal care assistant insurance. The company leverages a direct-to-consumer online platform to streamline quote generation and policy management, which likely contributes to operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their extensive positive reviews and partnerships, including with Table Tennis England, indicate strong brand trust and community engagement. The business appears medium-sized with a decade-plus operational history, suggesting stability and growth potential. The absence of parent or subsidiary companies implies independent operation. The company’s digital ecosystem includes integrations with major analytics and customer engagement platforms, supporting data-driven marketing and service improvements.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with mandatory HTTPS usage and domain transfer lock status, reducing risks of domain hijacking. However, the lack of DNSSEC implementation is a notable gap that could expose DNS spoofing risks. Security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are not explicitly detected, which are recommended to mitigate common web vulnerabilities. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were identified in the HTML content. The presence of cookie consent and privacy controls aligns with GDPR compliance. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency in security governance. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from enhanced header policies and DNS security.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and verify comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and provide clear incident response contact channels to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Conduct regular audits of third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance website accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user inclusivity.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Mark Bates Ltd
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Mark Bates Ltd
Description
Mark Bates Ltd provide specialist insurance and warranty policies to protect the important things in life. Get a free quote today!
Key services
Mobility Scooter Insurance, Home Insurance, Care Insurance, Leisure Insurance, Warranty Policies
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Angular (version 20.3.9), Font Awesome 6 Pro, Google Tag Manager, LivePerson chat, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Angular
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
LivePerson
Marketing tools
LivePerson chat
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed Angular SPA with comprehensive insurance offerings.
  2. Strong customer trust signals including extensive positive reviews and official partnerships.
  3. Good privacy and cookie compliance with explicit consent mechanisms.
  4. No signs of blocking or WAF challenges; content fully accessible.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and third-party analytics and chat services.
  6. Security headers could be improved and DNSSEC enabled for enhanced security.
  7. Contact information is clear and includes phone, address, and contact forms.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response information publicly available.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is a modern Angular-based single-page application, indicating a contemporary and scalable technical infrastructure. It uses Google Fonts and Font Awesome for typography and icons, and integrates Google Tag Manager and LivePerson for analytics and customer engagement. Hosting and DNS are managed via IONOS SE and Cloudflare respectively, providing reliable infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized and uses responsive design techniques. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in loading speed achievable through optimization of third-party scripts and assets. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. The absence of a common CMS suggests a custom-built solution, which may require dedicated maintenance resources. Overall, the technical setup supports a professional and user-friendly experience with room for performance and security enhancements.
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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