Skip to main content

Security report for squirrel.co.nz

Squirrel Group Limited · Finance · New Zealand

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Squirrel Group Limited is a New Zealand-based financial services company specializing in mortgage brokerage, savings, investing, and property finance solutions. Established in 2005, the company has positioned itself as a trusted independent mortgage broker with a strong market presence, having arranged over $22 billion in mortgages. Their services cater primarily to New Zealand residents seeking home loans, investment opportunities, and bespoke funding solutions for property development. The website reflects a professional and user-friendly digital presence, leveraging modern technologies such as Next.js and Azure hosting to deliver fast and mobile-optimized experiences. Social media integration and customer testimonials further enhance trust and engagement. However, the site lacks explicit privacy and cookie policies, which are critical for compliance and user trust.

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

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"

  2. 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

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. 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

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

Keep watching squirrel.co.nz

This scan found 22 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
82
Security headers
30
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
70

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

Squirrel operates in the finance and real estate sectors, targeting home buyers, investors, and property developers in New Zealand. Their business model revolves around providing expert mortgage advice, investment products, and tailored funding solutions. The company benefits from partnerships with major lenders and certifications from recognized industry bodies, reinforcing its credibility. Revenue streams likely include brokerage fees, investment management, and financial advisory services. The presence of a blog and educational resources indicates a strategy to engage and educate their audience, supporting customer acquisition and retention. The company’s medium size and established history suggest stable operations with growth potential in the NZ market.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and uses modern web technologies with some security best practices such as script offloading via Partytown. However, the absence of DNSSEC and missing security headers like CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options represent areas for improvement. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts are published, which could hinder transparency and readiness. The use of Facebook Pixel indicates moderate user tracking, but privacy compliance is weak due to missing privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by implementing recommended headers, enabling DNSSEC, and publishing clear security and privacy documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Implement DNSSEC to secure DNS resolution and prevent spoofing.
  3. Add essential security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Create and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosure and incident reporting.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking pixels to minimize privacy risks and improve transparency.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Squirrel Group Limited
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Squirrel Group Limited
Description
Squirrel provides mortgage brokerage services, savings and investment options, and property finance solutions primarily for New Zealand customers. They offer expert mortgage advisers, high-interest savings accounts, term investment options, and bespoke funding for builders and developers.
Key services
Mortgage brokerage, Savings accounts, Investment term options, Property finance and development funding
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Next.js, React, Azure DNS, Partytown (for script offloading), Facebook Pixel
Frameworks
React, Next.js
Platforms
Azure
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No DNSSEC but domain status OK
  • Use of Partytown to offload third-party scripts
  • Facebook Pixel implemented via Partytown

Analytics and tracking

Services
Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Calendly
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured.
  2. Clear focus on mortgage brokerage and investment services in New Zealand.
  3. Strong trust signals including certifications and customer reviews.
  4. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found on the homepage.
  5. No explicit security policies or incident response contacts found.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and hosting on Azure.
  7. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security gap.
  8. No visible security headers detected in provided data.
  9. Social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram.
  10. Contact information includes phone number and physical address in Auckland CBD.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React/Next.js framework hosted on Microsoft Azure, ensuring scalability and performance. It uses Partytown to optimize third-party script loading, enhancing page speed and user experience. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and Open Graph data. However, the lack of DNSSEC and security headers indicates some technical debt in security hardening. The site integrates external services like Facebook Pixel and Calendly for marketing and scheduling, which require careful privacy management. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust, performant, and modern but can benefit from enhanced security configurations.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with squirrel.co.nz. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review squirrel.co.nz.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.