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Security report for scarisbrickhallschool.co.uk

Scarisbrick Hall School · Education · United Kingdom

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in Network security, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

44/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Scarisbrick Hall School is a well-established independent educational institution in the North West of England, offering personalized education from nursery through to sixth form. The school positions itself as a top-tier independent school with excellent academic results and a strong reputation, supported by an ISI Grade 1 rating. The website reflects a professional digital presence built on WordPress with modern plugins and SEO optimizations. Social media integration and testimonials enhance trustworthiness. However, the absence of WHOIS data due to domain naming rules limits domain registration verification. Security posture is good with HTTPS and no obvious vulnerabilities, but cookie consent mechanisms and security headers could be improved. Overall, the site is suitable for its target audience of parents and students seeking quality independent education.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

10 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.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • 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
    • 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. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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 scarisbrickhallschool.co.uk

This scan found 27 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
15
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
44

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 · found on this site
  • 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 school operates in the education sector, targeting families in the UK seeking private schooling options. Its business model is based on tuition fees and co-curricular offerings. The school leverages its strong academic reputation and inspection results as competitive advantages. The website supports admissions and community engagement through detailed content and alumni connections. Partnerships with related domains for intranet and sports activities indicate a connected ecosystem. Growth indicators include active social media and comprehensive service offerings. The lack of direct contact details on the homepage suggests contact is managed through dedicated pages or intranet.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS and no exposed sensitive data. Use of Google Analytics is managed with opt-out capabilities, but no cookie consent banner was detected, which may be a GDPR compliance gap. Security headers are not evident in the provided data, and no incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are published. The WHOIS data unavailability is a concern for domain legitimacy verification but does not directly impact site security. Recommendations include implementing security headers, cookie consent, and publishing security policies to enhance trust and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  2. Add and configure security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  3. Publish an incident response plan and vulnerability disclosure policy to improve security transparency and readiness.
  4. Verify and correct WHOIS domain registration details or clarify domain naming to resolve lookup errors.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and provide clear contact information on the homepage for improved user experience.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Scarisbrick Hall School
Description
Scarisbrick Hall School is a leading independent school in the North West that provides exceptional personalised learning from birth to 18.
Key services
Nursery education, Pre-School, First School, Middle School, College (GCSE program), Sixth Form (Pre-University experience), Sports coaching, Performing Arts, Outdoor learning, Alumni network
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 7.0, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Analytics, LayerSlider, Revolution Slider, Elementor, jQuery, MonsterInsights Google Analytics plugin
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Analytics with opt-out mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
MonsterInsights
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed WordPress site for an independent school in the UK.
  2. Content is comprehensive about school structure, admissions, and activities.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the provided HTML snippet.
  4. Social media links to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are present and active.
  5. No cookie consent banner detected despite use of Google Analytics.
  6. No explicit privacy or security policy pages detected in the snippet except a policies page.
  7. WHOIS data is unavailable due to domain naming rules error, limiting domain trust verification.
  8. No signs of malware or phishing detected in content.
  9. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 7.0 with popular plugins including Yoast SEO, LayerSlider, Revolution Slider, Elementor, and MonsterInsights for analytics. The tech stack is modern and supports responsive design and SEO best practices. Performance is moderate with some heavy slider content. No major technical debt or deprecated libraries were detected. Hosting provider details are not available. The site could benefit from improved accessibility compliance and security header implementation. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business needs effectively but has room for security and privacy enhancements.
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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