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Security report for marksandspencer.com

Marks and Spencer plc · Retail · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

55/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Marks and Spencer plc is a well-established UK-based retail enterprise offering a wide range of products including clothing, home goods, food, gifts, and financial services. The company maintains a strong market position with a comprehensive e-commerce platform that supports multiple product categories and integrates financial services such as M&S Bank and Sparks Pay. The website demonstrates a high level of digital maturity with modern technologies like React and Next.js, extensive use of analytics and marketing tools, and robust privacy and cookie consent mechanisms. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Overall, the site provides an excellent user experience with clear navigation, mobile optimization, and professional design. Strategic recommendations include maintaining up-to-date security practices, enhancing incident response transparency, and implementing a formal vulnerability disclosure program.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of marksandspencer.com. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
48/ 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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

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

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

    • 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

  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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  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 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';…

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

Keep watching marksandspencer.com

This scan found 19 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
0
Security headers
25
Email security
77
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
48
Average
55

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 company operates in the retail sector with significant e-commerce capabilities and a diversified business model that includes financial services and partnerships with companies like Ocado. Its target audience spans consumers seeking quality clothing, home products, food, and financial products primarily in the UK but also internationally. The brand is consistent and trusted, supported by comprehensive legal and privacy documentation. The presence of multiple payment options and loyalty programs indicates a mature customer engagement strategy. The company’s size and history align with its domain registration and online presence, reinforcing its credibility.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no detected vulnerabilities in the provided HTML content. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. However, no explicit public security policy or incident response information was found, suggesting an area for improvement. The use of advanced monitoring and analytics tools like New Relic and Dynatrace indicates active security and performance monitoring. No critical security issues were detected.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publicize a formal vulnerability disclosure program to encourage responsible reporting.
  2. Enhance public documentation of security policies and incident response procedures to improve transparency.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and dependencies to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  4. Continue to improve user privacy education and consent mechanisms in line with evolving regulations.
  5. Maintain and enhance security monitoring and response capabilities to address emerging threats.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Marks and Spencer plc
Description
Shop on-trend womenswear, quality menswear, home and beauty essentials and mouth-watering food and drink. Order online with free delivery or collection at M&S
Key services
Clothing retail, Home and furniture retail, Food and drink retail, Gifts, Financial services including M&S Bank and credit cards
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React (Next.js), Google Tag Manager, mParticle, Optimizely, Dynatrace RUM, OneTrust, Facebook Pixel, Bing Ads, AppsFlyer, Tealium
Frameworks
Next.js, React
Platforms
Web, Mobile Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • Content Security Policy
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security monitoring tools (New Relic, Dynatrace)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, mParticle, New Relic, Dynatrace, Optimizely
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, TikTok Ads, Optimizely
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Pinterest Tag, TikTok Pixel, mParticle
Marketing tools
Tealium, AppsFlyer, OneTrust
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Comprehensive e-commerce platform with extensive product categories
  2. Strong integration of financial services (M&S Bank, Sparks Pay)
  3. Robust privacy and cookie consent mechanisms implemented
  4. Use of multiple analytics and marketing tools for user tracking and optimization
  5. High-quality design and user experience with mobile optimization
  6. No signs of WAF or content blocking
  7. No exposed sensitive data or obvious security vulnerabilities in HTML content
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including React and Next.js, ensuring server-side rendering and good performance. It leverages multiple third-party services for analytics, marketing, and user experience optimization such as Google Tag Manager, mParticle, Optimizely, and Dynatrace. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices and accessibility, with comprehensive SEO metadata and structured data (JSON-LD). The hosting environment appears robust, though specific providers are not explicitly identified. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a fast, secure, and user-friendly e-commerce experience.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 74/100Medium28 findingsView report
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