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Security report for startupsmagazine.co.uk

Startups Magazine · Media · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Startups Magazine is a UK-based digital and print media company focused on providing content for tech startups and entrepreneurs. The website offers articles, podcasts, events, and magazine subscriptions targeting the startup ecosystem. The company appears to be a small-sized media business founded in 2018, with a clear market niche and consistent branding. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 8 and integrates modern marketing and analytics tools such as Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Facebook Pixel. The site is mobile-optimized and has good SEO practices, though accessibility is basic. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and anonymized analytics, but lacks some security headers and explicit security policies. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism. Contact information is clearly provided, enhancing business credibility. Overall, the website is professional and trustworthy with room for improvement in security and privacy compliance.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of startupsmagazine.co.uk. View the latest report

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. 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';…

  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

  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

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  • 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
40
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
68

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

The company positions itself as a niche media outlet serving the tech startup community in the UK. Its business model relies on digital and print magazine subscriptions, advertising, and event promotion. The presence of multiple content formats (articles, podcasts, events) indicates diversified content delivery. The company maintains active social media channels to engage its audience. The domain age and registration details support legitimacy. However, the lack of detailed security and privacy policies may pose compliance risks. The company could benefit from enhancing transparency and security posture to strengthen trust and regulatory compliance.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with good SSL configuration and uses anonymized IP tracking in Google Analytics, which is positive for privacy. However, no security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options were detected, which are recommended to mitigate common web attacks. There is no published security policy or incident response contact information, which limits transparency and preparedness. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism is a compliance gap under GDPR. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could be improved by implementing recommended headers, publishing security policies, and adding cookie consent.

Recommendations

  1. Implement standard security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Startups Magazine
Registration number
06755141
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Startups Magazine
Description
A digital and print magazine helping tech startups connect the dots on their entrepreneurial journeys. Connect the dots with founder secrets, startup success stories & more.
Key services
Articles, Events, Podcasts, Magazines, Newsletter subscription
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, HubSpot, Drupal 8, Apollo Website Tracker, Facebook Pixel, Google Publisher Tags
Frameworks
Drupal 8
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Anonymize IP in Google Analytics
  • Use of secure cookies and scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, HubSpot Analytics, Apollo Website Tracker, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager, Google DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, HubSpot tracking
Marketing tools
HubSpot, Apollo Website Tracker
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses Drupal 8 CMS with modern tracking and marketing tools.
  2. Content is focused on tech startups and entrepreneurship.
  3. No signs of malicious content or security issues detected.
  4. Contact information is clearly provided with phone and physical address.
  5. No cookie consent banner found despite GDPR relevance.
  6. Advertising is present via Google Ad Manager and DoubleClick.
  7. Social media presence is active on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response information available.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 8 CMS, a mature and widely used platform. It integrates multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager, HubSpot, Apollo Website Tracker, and Facebook Pixel, indicating a sophisticated marketing infrastructure. The site uses Google Publisher Tags for advertising. Performance appears moderate with asynchronous loading of scripts. Mobile optimization is good with responsive design elements. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Accessibility is basic but present. Hosting is via GoDaddy.com, LLC. The technical stack is modern but could benefit from enhanced security configurations and performance optimizations.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 68/100Medium36 findingsView report
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