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Security report for thehea.org.uk

HEASN Ltd. · Transportation · United Kingdom

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

45/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The Highway Electrical Association (HEA) is a UK-based trade association established in 2011, representing over 100 organizations in the highway electrical sector. It provides membership services, training, registers, and resources to its members, positioning itself as a leading and influential body within the transportation industry. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand presence with clear navigation and relevant content targeted at industry professionals and organizations. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern libraries and plugins, hosted by a reputable UK provider, and employs HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate. Security measures include Google reCAPTCHA and a cookie consent mechanism, though there is room for improvement in security headers and published policies. Overall, the site demonstrates a good security posture and business credibility, with moderate user tracking via Google Analytics and basic privacy compliance.

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

8 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: PostgreSQL

      Port 5432 (PostgreSQL) is publicly accessible - PostgreSQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to PostgreSQL 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

  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 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 thehea.org.uk

This scan found 29 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
75
DNS health
65
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
53
Average
45

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

HEA operates as a trade association serving the highway electrical sector, leveraging membership fees, training courses, and event hosting as primary revenue streams. Its market position is strong within the UK transportation industry, supported by a history of amalgamated predecessor organizations. The association targets contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers involved in highway electrical services. Partnerships include website development with nsmdigital.com. The organization maintains a medium-sized operational scale with a focus on professional development and sector standards. The website supports these goals with resources, registers, and event information, though direct contact details are limited on the homepage.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms, indicating a baseline security awareness. However, it lacks visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options, which could mitigate common web attacks. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present. The cookie consent banner supports GDPR compliance, but the privacy policy is basic and does not explicitly confirm GDPR adherence. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced with additional headers, policies, and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and configure security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve protection against common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Publish a detailed security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  3. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience for all visitors.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate risks from vulnerable components.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
HEASN Ltd.
Registration number
6413222
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
HEASN Ltd.
Description
Established in 2011, the Highway Electrical Association (HEA) is a trade association with a history expanding over 70 years. It represents over 100 organisations in the highway electrical sector, including street lighting, traffic signals, and highway communications. The HEA was formed by amalgamation of ASLEC and HEMSA.
Key services
Membership services, Training courses, Registers (HEA Register, HEA-HEMSA Register, Professional Register), Health & Safety resources, Events and conferences
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Yoast SEO plugin, Google reCAPTCHA, Fotorama (image gallery), Google Fonts, Font Awesome
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • Cookie consent banner

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses HTTPS with valid SSL certificate.
  2. Cookie consent banner is present and functional.
  3. No visible contact emails or phone numbers on homepage; contact likely via Contact Us page.
  4. Social media presence on Twitter and LinkedIn with official accounts.
  5. No terms of service page detected.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  7. Website built on WordPress with common plugins and libraries.
  8. Google Analytics used for visitor tracking.
  9. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress, utilizing common technologies such as jQuery, Google Fonts, Font Awesome, and the Yoast SEO plugin. Hosting is provided by Easyspace Ltd, a reputable UK hosting provider. Performance is moderate with asynchronous loading of scripts and use of caching-friendly resources. Mobile optimization is good, with responsive design and viewport settings. SEO is supported by meta tags, Open Graph data, and structured JSON-LD schema. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, though some security best practices like security headers are missing.
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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