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Security report for novawebdesign.co.nz

Nova Web Studio · Technology · New Zealand

High risk. 7 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

38/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Nova Web Studio is a New Zealand-based small digital agency specializing in custom UI/UX design, modern web development, SEO, and digital marketing services. The company targets agencies, e-commerce businesses, SaaS providers, travel businesses, and solo founders, offering a comprehensive suite of services including web development, SEO promotion, branding, targeted advertising, and content creation. Their market position is that of a niche-focused, full-service web studio delivering professional, user-centered digital solutions. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 6.8.1 with a modern tech stack including jQuery and GSAP for animations. It integrates Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Ahrefs Analytics for marketing and performance tracking. The site is hosted on servers indicated by the nameservers ns1.myhost.nz and ns2.myhost.nz. Performance and mobile optimization are rated moderate to excellent, with good accessibility and SEO practices implemented. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with a good SSL configuration and domain status clientTransferProhibited, indicating transfer lock. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and no security headers were detected in the provided data. There is no published security policy or incident response information. No cookie consent mechanism was found, which may impact GDPR compliance. The WHOIS data shows an unusual future domain creation date (March 2025), which is inconsistent but likely a data anomaly rather than a risk. Overall, the website demonstrates strong business credibility and technical maturity with minor gaps in privacy compliance and security policy transparency. The risk level is low, but improvements in security headers, DNSSEC, and privacy mechanisms are recommended to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

7 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  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 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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching novawebdesign.co.nz

This scan found 23 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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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
0
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
53
Average
38

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

Nova Web Studio operates as a small, specialized digital agency focusing on web design, development, and SEO services tailored to small and medium enterprises and solo entrepreneurs. Their competitive advantage lies in combining UI/UX design with SEO and digital marketing, providing end-to-end solutions. Revenue streams likely include project-based web development, ongoing SEO and marketing services, and content creation packages. The company maintains a professional online presence with clear contact channels and detailed service descriptions, indicating a customer-centric approach. Partnerships with social media platforms and use of analytics tools suggest a data-driven marketing strategy. The business is relatively new (founded 2025) but positions itself as a modern, agile player in the New Zealand digital services market.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate to good security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer lock enabled. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options represents an area for improvement. No sensitive data exposure or vulnerable libraries were detected. The lack of a published security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency and preparedness perception. Cookie consent mechanisms are missing, which may affect GDPR compliance. Overall, the security maturity is adequate for a small digital agency but would benefit from enhanced DNS security, security headers, and formalized policies to mitigate risks and improve trust.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve DNS security.
  2. Implement standard security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to harden the website against common web attacks.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner and cookie policy page to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and analytics tools to ensure no vulnerabilities or privacy issues arise.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Nova Web Studio
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Nova Web Studio
Description
We create visually stunning websites that drive traffic and sales. Full-service agency offering web design, development, SEO, and digital marketing.
Key services
Web Development, SEO Promotion, UI/UX Design, E-Commerce, Branding & Graphic, Targeted Advertising, SMM, Content Creation, Email Marketing
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.1, jQuery 3.7.1, GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform), Google Tag Manager, Ahrefs Analytics, Google Analytics (gtag.js)
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • clientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Ahrefs Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Ahrefs Analytics
Marketing tools
Ahrefs Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and professional design
  2. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected
  3. Comprehensive FAQ and service descriptions enhance transparency
  4. No cookie consent mechanism found, which may affect GDPR compliance
  5. Domain WHOIS data shows unusual future creation date
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published
  7. Multiple external analytics and marketing scripts used
  8. Clear contact information including email, phone, and physical address provided
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress platform (version 6.8.1) with a well-structured theme and uses popular JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and GSAP for animations and interactivity. Integration with Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Ahrefs Analytics indicates a mature approach to marketing and SEO performance tracking. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good accessibility features. Hosting is inferred to be with myhost.nz based on nameservers. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content and animations. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated libraries. Opportunities exist to improve security configurations and privacy compliance to align with best 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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