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Security report for steptoe.com

Steptoe LLP · Government · United States

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Steptoe LLP is a prominent international law firm specializing in government regulatory work, complex litigation, arbitration, and business transactions. The firm is highly ranked in leading legal directories such as Chambers USA and Legal 500, reflecting its strong market position and reputation. The website targets business clients, government entities, and legal professionals, offering a broad range of legal services including cybersecurity and pro bono work. Technically, the website is built on the RubyLaw CMS platform, employs modern web technologies, and integrates analytics and cookie consent tools to ensure compliance and user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly detailed. Overall, the site demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations, though the absence of WHOIS data introduces some uncertainty about domain registration transparency.

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

3 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

  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 steptoe.com

This scan found 21 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
42
Security headers
65
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
72

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

Steptoe LLP operates as a large, essential entity within the legal services sector, serving multiple industries including government, energy, transportation, finance, and technology. The firm leverages its international reputation and rankings to attract a sophisticated clientele. Its business model focuses on high-value legal advisory and litigation services. The website's content strategy includes frequent news updates, event announcements, and specialized blogs, indicating active engagement with its audience. Partnerships with technology and design firms are evident, supporting a robust digital presence. The firm's use of analytics and consent management tools aligns with modern compliance requirements, enhancing its market credibility.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and cookie consent mechanisms. No exposed sensitive information or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analyzed content. However, the absence of a public security policy, vulnerability disclosure program, or explicit incident response contacts suggests areas for improvement in transparency and readiness. The firm should consider publishing these details to strengthen trust and demonstrate proactive security governance. Overall, the security measures in place are adequate for a professional services website, minimizing risk exposure.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security frameworks and practices.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information for security issues.
  4. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and analytics tools for security.
  5. Enhance transparency on data retention and privacy practices to build user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Steptoe LLP
Description
Steptoe LLP is a leading international law firm known for regulatory defense, complex litigation, and high-stakes white-collar matters.
Key services
Government regulatory work, Litigation and arbitration, Business transactions, Cybersecurity legal practice, Pro bono legal services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
RubyLaw CMS, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, Typography.com fonts, Slick Carousel
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Siteimprove Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Siteimprove Analytics
Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent
Transparency
good

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 maintained.
  2. Content is rich, relevant, and updated with recent news and events.
  3. Strong presence of privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. No signs of malicious content or security warnings.
  5. WHOIS data is missing, which reduces transparency but does not negate legitimacy.
  6. Use of multiple analytics and tracking tools with user consent.
  7. No visible contact emails or phone numbers in the provided HTML snippet, but contact forms and social media links are present.
  8. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a specialized CMS (RubyLaw) tailored for legal firms, integrating modern front-end technologies such as responsive design, typography services, and carousel components. Analytics and tag management are implemented via Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, complemented by OneTrust for cookie consent. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in loading times and script management. Hosting details are not explicit, but no performance or uptime issues were observed. The technical infrastructure supports a professional and compliant online presence, though continuous monitoring and modernization are advisable to maintain competitive advantage.
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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