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Security report for portlandconsulting.co.uk

Portland Consulting Engineers Ltd · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

56/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Portland Consulting Engineers Ltd is a well-established civil and structural engineering consultancy based in the North East of England, founded in 2004. The company offers a broad range of engineering services including structural engineering, civil infrastructure design, flood risk assessments, and refurbishment engineering. The firm positions itself as a trusted partner delivering cost-effective and quality solutions to clients across the UK. Their website reflects a professional and credible business with strong industry certifications and accreditations. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins and tracking tools such as Google Tag Manager and Jetpack Stats. The site is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and comprehensive content. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented, though additional security headers and incident response information could enhance their security maturity. The WHOIS data for the domain is unavailable due to an invalid query including the 'www' prefix, which is a common mistake for .uk domains. Despite this, the website content and certifications strongly support the legitimacy of the business. No signs of blocking or WAF interference were detected, allowing full content analysis. Overall, Portland Consulting Engineers demonstrates a strong business presence with good technical and security practices. Strategic improvements in security headers and transparency around incident response would further strengthen their posture.

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

4 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

  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 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 portlandconsulting.co.uk

This scan found 24 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

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
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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
47
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
68
Average
56

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

Portland Consulting Engineers operates in the professional engineering consultancy sector, targeting clients requiring civil and structural engineering services primarily in the UK. Their competitive advantage lies in their regional leadership, award-winning reputation, and comprehensive service offerings. The business model focuses on project-based consultancy with a strong emphasis on client relationships and collaborative teamwork. Revenue streams likely derive from engineering design, project management, and specialist consultancy services. The company maintains partnerships and accreditations with recognized industry bodies, enhancing credibility and market reach. Growth indicators include recent shareholder appointments and active project case studies. The company leverages digital marketing and professional web presence to support business development.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, ensuring encrypted communications. Cookie consent mechanisms are in place, supporting GDPR compliance. No security policy or incident response contacts are published, which is a gap in transparency. The site uses common WordPress plugins and libraries without visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Security headers beyond HTTPS are not detected, suggesting room for improvement in defense-in-depth. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by publishing security policies, incident response contacts, and implementing additional HTTP security headers.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to increase transparency and readiness for security incidents.
  3. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress plugins and themes to mitigate risks from vulnerable components.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience for all visitors.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Portland Consulting Engineers Ltd
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Portland Consulting Engineers Ltd
Description
Portland Consulting Engineers is one of the North East’s leading Civil & Structural Engineering consultancies. Founded in 2004, Portland provides Civil & Structural Engineering consultancy services to clients across the country. The firm has grown into an award-winning practice, with an excellent reputation for delivering cost-effective solutions without compromising on quality.
Key services
Structural Engineering, Civil Engineering & Infrastructure Design, Flood Risk Assessments, Listed Buildings & Buildings of Historical Interest, Temporary Works, Refurbishment & Reinvigoration Engineering
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Perfect Cookie Banner plugin, Jetpack plugin
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Jetpack Stats, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Jetpack Stats
Marketing tools
Jetpack
Transparency
good

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. Strong presence of certifications and accreditations
  4. Clear contact information and multiple communication channels
  5. No visible security policy or incident response information
  6. Cookie consent implemented with clear user options
  7. No terms of service page found
  8. Use of WordPress CMS with common plugins and Google Tag Manager for analytics
  9. No exposed sensitive data or obvious vulnerabilities detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.4.3, utilizing jQuery and several plugins including Perfect Cookie Banner and Jetpack. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and marketing tracking. The site loads CSS and JS assets optimized via caching and autoptimize plugins. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and SEO meta tags implemented. The site uses structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO enhancement. Hosting provider details are not explicitly found. The technical stack is modern and standard for professional service websites, with opportunities to improve security headers and accessibility compliance.
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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