Skip to main content

Security report for stephenpelling.com

Stephen Pelling · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 11 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

53/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Stephen Pelling's website serves as a professional portfolio showcasing his work as a creative art director, designer, and musician based in London. The site highlights various projects spanning from 2017 to 2021, targeting a general audience interested in creative arts and design. The business model is personal branding and portfolio presentation, with no e-commerce or direct sales functionality. The website is hosted on Cargo Collective and registered via GoDaddy, reflecting a small-scale, niche creative professional presence. Technically, the site uses standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery, with templating via Handlebars.js. It is mobile optimized and performs moderately well, though it lacks advanced SEO and accessibility features. Hosting and domain registration are consistent and appropriate for the site's scope. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS but lacks DNSSEC and security headers, which are recommended for improved protection. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies are present, indicating gaps in compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided, limiting transparency in security matters. Overall, the website is professional and functional as a portfolio but would benefit from enhanced security measures, privacy compliance documentation, and clearer contact information to improve trust and regulatory adherence.

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

11 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  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 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';…

  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

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

Keep watching stephenpelling.com

This scan found 28 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
52
Security headers
15
Email security
40
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
53

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 website positions Stephen Pelling as a creative professional specializing in art direction, design, and music, primarily serving clients or audiences interested in creative and artistic projects. The portfolio format suggests a service-oriented business model focused on showcasing past work to attract new opportunities. The absence of e-commerce or direct sales indicates revenue likely comes from freelance or contract work. The site leverages Cargo Collective's platform, indicating a preference for streamlined portfolio hosting rather than custom infrastructure. Social media integration via Instagram, LinkedIn, and Bandcamp supports networking and audience engagement. The domain age and registration details align with a stable, small-scale creative business without complex corporate structures or subsidiaries.

Security posture

The security posture is basic with HTTPS enabled, ensuring encrypted communications. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options exposes the site to potential DNS spoofing and clickjacking risks. No privacy or cookie policies are present, which is a compliance gap under GDPR. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are visible, limiting the ability to handle security incidents effectively. The site does not appear to use analytics or tracking scripts, reducing privacy risks but also limiting user behavior insights. Overall, the security maturity is low to moderate, suitable for a personal portfolio but requiring improvements for higher assurance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement standard security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  3. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies to comply with GDPR and enhance user trust.
  4. Add contact information including a professional email address and phone number to improve business credibility and user communication.
  5. Establish an incident response plan and publish vulnerability disclosure information to demonstrate security readiness and transparency.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stephen Pelling
Description
Creative art director, designer and musician based in London.
Key services
art direction, design, music
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery 2.1.3, Handlebars.js
Platforms
Cargo Collective
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
50/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a personal portfolio for a creative professional based in London.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly provided; only social media links.
  4. No forms detected on the site for data collection.
  5. Uses Cargo Collective platform and GoDaddy registrar.
  6. No advanced security headers or DNSSEC implemented.
  7. No analytics or advertising scripts detected.
  8. Mobile optimized with responsive design.
  9. Content is professional and relevant to creative arts and music.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Cargo Collective platform using standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery. It employs Handlebars.js for templating and loads fonts from Google Fonts and Cargo's own font hosting. The site is mobile responsive and optimized for phone viewports. Hosting is provided by GoDaddy, with domain registration dating back to 2016, indicating a stable online presence. Performance is moderate with no heavy scripts or analytics detected. However, the site lacks advanced SEO features and accessibility enhancements. There is no evidence of CMS beyond Cargo Collective's platform. The absence of DNSSEC and security headers represents technical debt in security configuration. Overall, the technical infrastructure is adequate for a personal portfolio but could be modernized and hardened for improved security and 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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with stephenpelling.com. 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 stephenpelling.com.

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.