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Security report for maxwellsdiy.co.uk

Maxwells DIY · Retail · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

51/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Maxwells DIY is a well-established independent home and garden retailer serving the North East of the United Kingdom since 1932. The company offers a broad range of DIY supplies targeting homeowners and DIY enthusiasts in the region. The website reflects a professional retail business with consistent branding and a clear market position as the largest independent retailer in its sector locally. Technically, the site is built on WordPress using the Kadence theme and blocks, integrating modern SEO and analytics tools such as Yoast SEO, Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixel. The site is mobile optimized and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and relevant content. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and includes a cookie consent mechanism compliant with GDPR, though some security headers are missing and could be improved. The WHOIS data is incomplete due to a query error on the www subdomain, but the domain appears legitimate and consistent with the business claims. Overall, the site demonstrates a solid digital presence with room for security and compliance enhancements.

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. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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.

    • 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

  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
    • 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 maxwellsdiy.co.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.

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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
57
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
20
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

Maxwells DIY holds a strong market position as the largest independent home and garden retailer in the North East UK, leveraging its long history since 1932. The business model focuses on retail sales of DIY supplies with promotional campaigns such as giveaways to engage customers. The target audience includes local homeowners and DIY enthusiasts. The company maintains active social media channels on Facebook and Instagram, supporting customer engagement and brand visibility. The website's use of WordPress and SEO tools indicates a focus on digital marketing and customer acquisition. No parent or subsidiary companies were identified, suggesting an independent operation. The lack of explicit contact details on the website may limit direct customer support visibility. The business appears medium-sized with a regional focus and a stable brand presence.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with mandatory HTTPS encryption and a GDPR-compliant cookie consent banner. Tracking technologies such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel are used responsibly with user consent. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options represents an area for improvement to mitigate common web vulnerabilities. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The site lacks visible incident response or security policy documentation, which could enhance trust and preparedness. Regular updates and security audits are recommended to maintain and improve security maturity. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a retail website but could be strengthened with additional best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Referrer-Policy to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish clear security and incident response policies on the website to improve transparency and customer trust.
  3. Add explicit and easily accessible contact information including company emails and phone numbers to improve customer support and credibility.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress core, themes, and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to comply with standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Maxwells DIY
Description
Since 1932, Maxwells DIY has proudly served the North East, providing an extensive range of home & garden DIY supplies.
Key services
Home & garden DIY supplies, Retail sales, Promotional giveaways
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 7.0.1, Kadence Theme, Kadence Blocks, Kadence Pro, Yoast SEO, Google Analytics (gtag.js), Facebook Pixel, jQuery 3.7.1
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics with consent

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Yoast SEO, Google Site Kit
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional retail site for home and garden DIY supplies in the North East UK.
  2. Uses WordPress CMS with modern theme and plugins.
  3. Has cookie consent banner and privacy policy indicating GDPR compliance.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the provided HTML snippet.
  5. No terms of service or explicit security policies found.
  6. Uses Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel for tracking with consent.
  7. No WAF or blocking detected; site content fully accessible.
  8. WHOIS data incomplete due to query on www subdomain; domain appears legitimate.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress platform using the Kadence theme and Kadence Blocks plugin suite, which provides a flexible and responsive design. SEO is enhanced through the Yoast SEO plugin, and analytics are integrated via Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel with proper consent mechanisms. The site loads external resources such as Google Fonts and tracking scripts asynchronously to optimize performance. Mobile optimization is good, with responsive layouts and adaptive styling. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. Hosting provider details are not explicitly found. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in asset delivery and caching. The technical stack is current and supports the business needs effectively, though security header implementation and contact information visibility could be improved.
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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