diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/StartupAuthCheckRunner.java b/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/StartupAuthCheckRunner.java
index 5ec4ed7..9f65f2f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/StartupAuthCheckRunner.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/StartupAuthCheckRunner.java
@@ -19,11 +19,8 @@
 package tech.ailef.snapadmin.external;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.net.URI;
-import java.net.http.HttpClient;
-import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
-import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
-import java.net.http.HttpResponse.BodyHandlers;
+import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
+import java.net.URL;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -33,6 +30,8 @@ import org.springframework.context.ApplicationListener;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 
+import tech.ailef.snapadmin.external.exceptions.DbAdminException;
+
 /**
  * Runs at startup to determine if SnapAdmin is protected with authentication.
  * If this is not the case, it sets a flag that will display a warning in the
@@ -49,30 +48,31 @@ public class StartupAuthCheckRunner {
 	@Autowired
 	private SnapAdminProperties properties;
 	
-
 	@Bean
 	ApplicationListener<ServletWebServerInitializedEvent> serverPortListenerBean() {
 		return event -> {
 			int serverPort = event.getWebServer().getPort();
 			
-			String url = "http://localhost:" + serverPort + "/" + properties.getBaseUrl();
-			
-			logger.info("Checking if SnapAdmin is protected with authentication at " + url);
-			
-			HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder().uri(URI.create(url)).build();
+			String link = "http://localhost:" + serverPort + "/" + properties.getBaseUrl();
+			logger.info("Checking if SnapAdmin is protected with authentication at " + link);
 			
 			try {
-				HttpResponse<String> response = HttpClient.newBuilder().build().send(request, BodyHandlers.ofString());
-		
-				int statusCode = response.statusCode();
+				URL url = new URL(link);
+				
+				HttpURLConnection openConnection = (HttpURLConnection)url.openConnection();
+				openConnection.setInstanceFollowRedirects(false);
+				int statusCode = openConnection.getResponseCode();
+				
+				snapAdmin.setAuthenticated(statusCode != 200);
 				if (statusCode == 200) {
 					logger.warn("It seems SnapAdmin routes are not protected with authentication. The URL "
 							+ url + " is publicly accessible: be careful!");
-					snapAdmin.setAuthenticated(false);
 				}
-			} catch (IOException | InterruptedException e) {
-				logger.warn("Unable to connect to server at " + url);
+
+			} catch (IOException e) {
+				throw new DbAdminException(e);
 			}
+			
 		};
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/controller/GlobalController.java b/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/controller/GlobalController.java
index f63357b..1e61b97 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/controller/GlobalController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/external/controller/GlobalController.java
@@ -126,5 +126,10 @@ public class GlobalController {
 		return props;
 	}
 	
+	@ModelAttribute("snapadmin_authenticated") 
+	public boolean isAuthenticated() {
+		return dbAdmin.isAuthenticated();
+	}
+	
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/internal/UserConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/internal/UserConfiguration.java
index 258b6a6..aec39c2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/internal/UserConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/tech/ailef/snapadmin/internal/UserConfiguration.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import java.util.Optional;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
 
+import tech.ailef.snapadmin.external.exceptions.DbAdminException;
 import tech.ailef.snapadmin.internal.model.UserSetting;
 import tech.ailef.snapadmin.internal.repository.UserSettingsRepository;
 
@@ -47,7 +48,12 @@ public class UserConfiguration {
 		Optional<UserSetting> setting = repo.findById(settingName);
 		if (setting.isPresent())
 			return setting.get().getSettingValue();
-		return defaultValues().getOrDefault(settingName, "");
+		String settingDefaultValue = defaultValues().get(settingName);
+		
+		if (settingDefaultValue == null)
+			throw new DbAdminException("Trying to access setting `" + settingName + "` but it has no default value");
+		
+		return settingDefaultValue;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -57,6 +63,7 @@ public class UserConfiguration {
 	private Map<String, String> defaultValues() {
 		Map<String, String> values = new HashMap<>();
 		values.put("brandName", "SnapAdmin");
+		values.put("additionalCss", "");
 		return values;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/templates/home.html b/src/main/resources/templates/home.html
index 074d8e5..3a1c53f 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/templates/home.html
+++ b/src/main/resources/templates/home.html
@@ -9,6 +9,16 @@
 	        	<div th:replace="~{fragments/resources :: sidebar('entities')}"></div>
 	        	<div class="main-content bg-lighter">
 					<h1 class="fw-bold mb-4"><i class="align-middle bi bi-database"></i><span class="align-middle"> Entities</span></h1>
+					<th:block th:if="${!snapadmin_authenticated}">
+						<div class="alert alert-danger alert-dismissible fade show" role="alert" id="auth-warning">
+							<h4 class="alert-heading fw-bold"><i class="bi bi-exclamation-triangle"></i> SnapAdmin is not protected</h4>
+							<p class="mb-0">It appears that you have not enabled security so SnapAdmin is publicly accessible. Please refer to the
+								documentation to learn how to <a href="https://www.snapadmin.dev/docs/#security">protect SnapAdmin with Spring Security.
+								</a>
+							</p>
+							<button type="button" class="btn-close" data-bs-dismiss="alert" aria-label="Close"></button>
+						</div>
+					</th:block>
 					<form th:action="|/${snapadmin_baseUrl}|" method="GET">
     					<div class="input-group">
     						<input type="text" th:value="${query}"