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Security report for pwwaters.co.uk

P.W. Waters Ltd. · Retail · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

P.W. Waters Ltd is a well-established, family-run builders merchant and construction materials supplier based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, with over 75 years of experience. The company serves both trade and domestic customers in Norfolk and Suffolk, offering a wide range of products including aggregates, decorative stone, paving, bricks, blocks, artificial grass, cement, and underground drainage solutions. Additionally, they provide ready-mix concrete and equipment hire services, positioning themselves as a comprehensive supplier in the local construction sector. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image with clear contact details and social media presence. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with WooCommerce for e-commerce functionality, enhanced by Yoast SEO and Google Analytics integrations. It employs modern web technologies and is mobile-optimized, providing a good user experience and SEO performance. Cookie consent management is implemented via CookieYes, indicating attention to privacy compliance, although no explicit privacy policy page was found. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with a good SSL configuration but lacks visible advanced security headers. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The absence of WHOIS data due to domain naming rules error reduces trust somewhat, but the active and professional website presence supports legitimacy. Overall, the site demonstrates a solid security posture with room for improvement in security headers and privacy documentation. The overall risk assessment is moderate with recommendations to enhance security headers, publish a clear privacy policy, and consider adding a security.txt file for vulnerability disclosure. These steps will improve compliance, trust, and security maturity, supporting the company’s reputable market position.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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';…

  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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching pwwaters.co.uk

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.

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
27
Security headers
15
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
63

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

P.W. Waters Ltd operates as a small, family-owned business with a strong local presence in the construction materials retail sector. Their competitive advantage lies in their long-standing history, quality assurance (BSI certification), and comprehensive product and service offerings including equipment hire and ready-mix concrete. The business model focuses on serving both trade professionals and domestic customers, leveraging local delivery and expert advice. The company maintains active engagement through social media channels and Google site verification, indicating digital maturity. Growth indicators include diversified product categories and special offers. No direct partnerships or subsidiaries were identified from the website content. Strategic observations suggest focusing on enhancing online privacy and security transparency to strengthen customer trust further.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced with a valid SSL certificate, and cookie consent mechanisms are in place, reflecting GDPR awareness. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options indicates potential areas for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The lack of a dedicated security or incident response policy page and no visible security.txt file suggests limited formal incident response readiness. Overall, the security culture appears basic but functional, with recommendations to formalize policies and enhance technical controls to mitigate risks and improve compliance with evolving regulations such as NIS2.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Publish a clear and accessible privacy policy page detailing data collection and processing practices.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and incident reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and update all plugins and themes to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
P.W. Waters Ltd.
Description
P.W. Waters Ltd is a 4th generation family-run builders merchant and sand and gravel merchant based in Lowestoft, Suffolk, with over 75 years of experience. They supply building materials, landscaping products, and construction supplies to trade and domestic customers across Norfolk and Suffolk. Their product range includes aggregates, decorative stone, driveway paving, bricks and blocks, artificial grass and decking, cement and bagged items, and underground drainage solutions. They also offer ready-mix concrete and equipment hire services.
Key services
Builders merchant supplies, Ready-mix concrete supply, Equipment hire (digger, tipper, HIAB), Skip hire
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, WooCommerce, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, CookieYes Consent Management
Frameworks
Yoast SEO
Platforms
WordPress
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

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads
Marketing tools
Google Site Kit
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and e-commerce functionality.
  2. No WAF or security blocking detected.
  3. WHOIS data is unavailable due to domain naming rules error from Nominet UK.
  4. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented with detailed categories.
  5. Contact information is clearly presented with company email and phone number.
  6. Social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices.
  8. No explicit or adult content detected.
  9. Security headers are not explicitly visible; opportunity for improvement.
  10. No visible privacy policy or terms of service pages found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform with WooCommerce for e-commerce capabilities, supported by jQuery and Google Tag Manager for analytics and marketing. The use of Yoast SEO plugin indicates attention to search engine optimization. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and includes a cookie consent management system via CookieYes. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected, though some CSS and JavaScript inline styles suggest potential for optimization. Hosting provider details are not explicitly available. Technical risks include the lack of advanced security headers and incomplete privacy documentation, which could impact compliance and security posture. Modernization opportunities include enhancing security controls and improving 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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