Skip to main content

Security report for universalmetals.co.uk

Universal Metals · Manufacturing · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Network security and 2 other checks.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Universal Metals is a small, family-run scrap metal merchant business operating in the United Kingdom, specifically serving areas such as Crawley, Lancing, and Hastings. The company specializes in recycling both ferrous and non-ferrous metals with a focus on zero waste, positioning itself as a responsible and environmentally conscious local business. Their website reflects a professional and consistent brand image, targeting businesses and individuals seeking scrap metal recycling services in their region. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using the Divi theme, incorporating modern web technologies such as jQuery and Google reCAPTCHA for form security. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and SEO practices, although some accessibility features could be improved. Performance is moderate, with no significant issues detected in loading or navigation. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and implements Google reCAPTCHA, but lacks several important security headers and does not provide explicit security or incident response policies. The absence of a privacy policy and terms of service pages indicates gaps in compliance and transparency. Additionally, the domain WHOIS data is unavailable due to a domain registration error, which raises concerns about domain legitimacy despite the website's operational status. Overall, the website presents a trustworthy and professional front for a small local business but would benefit from enhanced security practices, improved privacy compliance, and resolution of domain registration inconsistencies to strengthen its credibility and reduce risk.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • 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

  3. 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';…

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

Keep watching universalmetals.co.uk

This scan found 25 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. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

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
57
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
80
Average
52

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

Universal Metals operates in the manufacturing sector focused on scrap metal recycling, serving a regional market in the UK. Their business model revolves around collecting and recycling ferrous and non-ferrous metals, appealing to local businesses and individuals. The company leverages its family-run status as a trust signal and positions itself as environmentally responsible with zero waste recycling. The website content and structure suggest a focus on direct customer engagement through phone contact and online inquiry forms. There is no evidence of extensive partnerships or subsidiaries, indicating a standalone small business. The lack of detailed business registration or VAT information limits deeper business intelligence insights.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic security posture with HTTPS enabled and use of Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms from automated abuse. However, it lacks critical security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options, which are important for mitigating common web vulnerabilities. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is provided, and no security certifications or compliance frameworks are mentioned. The absence of a privacy policy and terms of service pages further weakens compliance and transparency. The domain WHOIS data is missing due to a registration error, which is unusual and could indicate administrative or technical issues. Overall, the security posture is moderate but requires improvements to meet best practices and regulatory expectations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service to improve compliance and user trust.
  2. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common attacks.
  3. Create and maintain a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure policy to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Investigate and resolve the domain WHOIS registration error to ensure domain legitimacy and improve trustworthiness.
  5. Enhance accessibility features on the website to improve usability for all users and meet accessibility standards.

Contact details published on the site

Registration number
04447887
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Universal Metals
Description
Universal Metals recycles both ferrous and non-ferrous metals with zero waste. They are a well-established family run business serving Crawley, Lancing, and Hastings.
Key services
Scrap metal recycling, Ferrous and non-ferrous metal recycling
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Divi Theme, jQuery, Google reCAPTCHA
Frameworks
Divi
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Buttonizer
Marketing tools
Buttonizer
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress site using Divi theme and common plugins.
  2. No privacy policy or terms of service pages found.
  3. Cookie consent mechanism is present and active.
  4. Contact phone number is present but no email addresses found in visible content.
  5. No explicit security or incident response policies found.
  6. No certifications or compliance badges displayed.
  7. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  8. Website content is business-focused and safe for general audiences.
  9. WHOIS data is missing due to domain registration error, which is unusual.
  10. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS using the Divi theme, a popular and flexible framework for website design. It uses jQuery and Google reCAPTCHA scripts to enhance interactivity and security. The site loads stylesheets and scripts from both the site domain and trusted external sources such as Google Fonts and Buttonizer. Performance is moderate with no evident blocking or errors. Mobile optimization is good, and SEO meta tags including Open Graph and JSON-LD structured data are properly implemented. However, the site lacks advanced security headers and some accessibility features, indicating room for technical improvements. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified from the content.
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 universalmetals.co.uk. 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 universalmetals.co.uk.

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.