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Security report for nbnatlas.org

National Biodiversity Network UK Atlas · Non-profit · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

57/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The National Biodiversity Network UK Atlas operates the NBN Atlas website, which is the UK's largest repository of publicly available biodiversity data. The platform serves researchers, conservationists, and environmental stakeholders by providing access to over 300 million species occurrence records and enabling data sharing and analysis. The organization is positioned as a key non-profit entity in the biodiversity data sector within the UK, supported by a broad network of over 180 partners. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with a modern tech stack including jQuery, Bootstrap, and Google analytics tools, hosted on AWS infrastructure. The site demonstrates good digital maturity with responsive design and SEO optimization, though some accessibility and security header improvements are possible. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced, but lacks DNSSEC and some security headers. Privacy compliance is moderate with a cookie consent mechanism but no explicit privacy or terms pages detected in the provided content. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with no signs of blocking or adult content.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

3 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.

    • 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

  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. 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

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Keep watching nbnatlas.org

This scan found 25 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
62
Security headers
65
Email security
60
DNS health
65
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
68
Average
57

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 NBN Atlas is a non-profit platform focused on biodiversity data aggregation and dissemination in the UK. Its competitive advantage lies in its extensive data repository and strong partnerships with numerous ecological and conservation organizations. The business model revolves around data sharing and supporting environmental research and policy. Revenue streams likely include donations and grants, as indicated by donation links. The target audience includes environmental researchers, policy makers, and citizen scientists. The partnership ecosystem is robust, with many local and national biodiversity recording centers and conservation groups contributing data. The organization shows growth potential through continuous platform updates and community engagement.

Security posture

The website maintains a good security baseline with HTTPS and secure cookie flags for analytics. However, it lacks DNSSEC, which could improve DNS security. No advanced security headers like Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options were detected, representing an area for improvement. No incident response or security policy information is publicly available, which could be a compliance gap. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The site does not appear to use a WAF or present any blocking challenges, indicating open accessibility. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be enhanced with additional headers and documented policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  3. Publish clear privacy policy and terms of service pages to improve compliance and user trust.
  4. Add explicit incident response and security contact information to demonstrate preparedness and transparency.
  5. Conduct regular security audits of third-party scripts and plugins to minimize risk exposure.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
National Biodiversity Network UK Atlas
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
National Biodiversity Network UK Atlas
Description
NBN Atlas is a free online tool hosting the UK's largest collection of biodiversity information enabling data to be shared, analysed and researched.
Key services
Biodiversity data hosting, Species occurrence records, Distribution maps, Data sharing and analysis tools
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, FontAwesome, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Site Kit, Google Analytics (gtag.js), Bootstrap 3 (gravity-forms-bootstrap-3-style), WordPress
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No DNSSEC (not enabled)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies (implied by Google Analytics cookie flags)

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established non-profit biodiversity data platform.
  2. Content is rich and professionally presented with extensive partner network.
  3. Uses WordPress CMS with common plugins and Google analytics integration.
  4. No explicit privacy or terms of service pages found in provided content.
  5. Cookie consent mechanism is present and active.
  6. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via form only.
  7. Security headers could be improved; DNSSEC not enabled.
  8. No WAF or blocking detected; site fully accessible.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses WordPress CMS with common plugins like Yoast SEO and Google Site Kit, indicating a standard but effective technical infrastructure. Hosting is on AWS, providing reliable and scalable infrastructure. The tech stack includes jQuery and Bootstrap for UI components, ensuring responsive and accessible design. Performance is moderate, with some room for optimization. SEO is well addressed with meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). Accessibility is basic but could be improved. The site uses Google Analytics and Tag Manager for user tracking, with a cookie consent mechanism in place. Overall, the technical implementation is solid but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security practices.
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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