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Security report for thesmallawards.uk

Small Business Britain · Other · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Small Awards website represents a UK-based awards program focused on recognizing and celebrating small businesses across various categories. Operated by Small Business Britain, the platform targets a broad audience of small business owners, startups, sole traders, and social enterprises. The business model revolves around organizing an annual awards event, providing media exposure, and offering sponsorship opportunities. The website content is well-structured, professionally designed, and provides clear information about the awards, categories, timeline, and sponsors. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including Bootstrap for responsive design, jQuery for scripting, and integrates analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel for user tracking and marketing insights. The site loads scripts asynchronously and uses HTTPS, indicating a reasonable level of digital maturity. However, there is no explicit CMS detected, and some SEO and accessibility features are basic. From a security perspective, the website uses HTTPS and includes nonce attributes in inline scripts, which is positive. However, it lacks important security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options, and there is no published security or incident response policy. The absence of privacy and cookie policies is a notable compliance gap, especially given the use of tracking technologies. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. Overall, the website presents a moderate risk profile with good business credibility but requires improvements in privacy compliance and security hardening to enhance 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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

    • 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

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google Analytics, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google APIs

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

  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 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

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Keep watching thesmallawards.uk

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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
75
Security headers
90
Email security
50
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
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

The Small Awards holds a niche position in the UK small business awards market, leveraging the parent organization Small Business Britain's extensive network and campaigns. Its competitive advantage lies in targeting often overlooked small businesses and providing them with media exposure and networking opportunities. Revenue streams likely include sponsorships and event participation fees. The target customers are UK small business owners across multiple sectors, including startups and sole traders. The partnership ecosystem includes sponsors like Constant Contact and related campaigns such as Small Business Saturday. The organization's strategic focus on inclusivity and community engagement positions it well for growth and relevance in the small business sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and client-side form validation is implemented. However, the lack of security headers and absence of a published security policy or incident response plan indicate gaps in security governance. The use of third-party tracking scripts introduces privacy considerations that are not addressed by visible cookie or privacy policies. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found, but the site would benefit from enhanced security controls and transparency to meet GDPR and other compliance requirements.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR.
  2. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to improve security posture.
  3. Develop and publish an incident response policy with clear contact channels for security issues.
  4. Conduct regular security audits of third-party scripts and ensure server-side validation complements client-side checks.
  5. Enhance accessibility and SEO features to improve user experience and search engine visibility.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Small Business Britain
Description
The Small Awards is an awards program launched in 2017 targeting the UK small business sector, focusing on recognizing small businesses often overlooked by other awards. It is run by Small Business Britain, which also runs national campaigns such as Small Business Saturday. The awards celebrate various categories of small businesses, including high street businesses, family businesses, startups, digital-only businesses, social enterprises, and those contributing to community and environmental sustainability.
Key services
Small business awards, Media outreach and PR for shortlisted businesses, Sponsorship opportunities, Networking events
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Bootstrap, jQuery, Font Awesome, FormValidation plugin
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Use of nonce attributes in inline scripts
  • Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics scripts loaded asynchronously
  • Form validation on client side

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Facebook Pixel, Constant Contact (email marketing)
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional awards platform targeting UK small businesses.
  2. No explicit privacy or cookie policy found, which is a compliance gap.
  3. Contact information is available via email and contact form but no phone or physical address found.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and asynchronous loading of analytics scripts.
  5. No visible security headers detected; opportunity for security hardening.
  6. No vulnerability disclosures or security policies published.
  7. No WHOIS privacy protection; domain registration consistent with business claims.
  8. Social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
  9. No phone numbers or physical addresses explicitly provided.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern responsive design framework (Bootstrap) and popular JavaScript libraries (jQuery, Font Awesome). Analytics and marketing tools are integrated asynchronously to optimize performance. The site is mobile-optimized and has clear navigation. However, no explicit CMS is detected, which may indicate a custom or static site architecture. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement through optimization of assets and caching. The absence of security headers and limited accessibility features suggest areas for technical enhancement to reduce risk and improve 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

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