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Security report for canonical.com

Canonical Ltd · Technology · N/a

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in GDPR outside view.

Security score

80/100

Risk levelLow

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

Canonical Ltd is a well-established technology company founded in 1996, specializing in providing trusted open source solutions for enterprises. Their flagship product is Ubuntu, a widely used Linux distribution, complemented by a broad portfolio of cloud, container, and IoT solutions. The company positions itself as a leader in open source innovation with a strong focus on enterprise support, security, and compliance. Their market presence is reinforced by a mature domain and a comprehensive website showcasing extensive product offerings and case studies. Technically, the website demonstrates a modern and performant infrastructure using HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and advanced web technologies such as Lottie animations and lazy loading. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, reflecting a high level of digital maturity. Hosting and domain registration are consistent with a reputable enterprise, with MarkMonitor Inc. as the registrar and domain protections enabled. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and domain status protections but lacks DNSSEC and explicit security policies or incident response disclosures. Privacy compliance is partial, with no visible privacy or cookie policies or consent mechanisms on the homepage content analyzed. Advertising and tracking are limited to Google services, with moderate user tracking levels. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-aligned with Canonical's business model. However, improvements in privacy transparency, DNS security, and published security policies would enhance their security posture and compliance standing.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

1 finding 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 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

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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
85
Security headers
80
Email security
60
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
80

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

Canonical operates in the technology sector, focusing on open source software and enterprise solutions. Their business model revolves around providing free open source software combined with paid subscriptions for security, compliance, and support services. The company targets enterprises, IT professionals, and developers seeking scalable, secure, and supported Linux and cloud solutions. Their competitive advantage lies in their long-standing reputation, comprehensive product suite, and strong community and partner ecosystem. The presence of multiple partner programs and certifications indicates a robust partnership strategy. Growth indicators include continuous product innovation, extensive career opportunities, and active engagement in emerging technologies like AI, Kubernetes, and IoT. Strategically, Canonical leverages its open source leadership to capture market share in cloud infrastructure, edge computing, and AI/ML platforms. Their offerings cater to diverse industries including automotive, financial services, public sector, industrial, and telecommunications, reflecting a broad market reach.

Security posture

The security posture of the website and organization is mature but with room for improvement. HTTPS is enforced, and domain registration includes protective statuses to prevent unauthorized changes. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which is a recommended best practice for DNS security. The absence of published security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms limits transparency and may impact trust from security-conscious customers. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content. The use of Google Tag Manager and tracking pixels introduces moderate user tracking but is standard practice. The lack of cookie consent mechanisms and privacy policy disclosures indicates partial GDPR compliance. Overall, the security score is good but could be elevated by addressing these gaps.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the canonical.com domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with explicit consent mechanisms to improve GDPR compliance.
  3. Develop and publicly share a security policy and incident response plan including dedicated contact channels for security issues.
  4. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to harden the website.
  5. Increase transparency around data collection, retention, and user privacy to build greater trust with users and customers.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Canonical Ltd
Description
Drive innovation in your enterprise with trusted open source from Canonical — simple, cost-effective, and supported.
Key services
Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, MAAS (Bare metal provisioning), Snapcraft (App store for Linux), OpenStack private cloud provisioning, MicroCloud, Ubuntu Pro (Security & compliance subscription), Enterprise-grade support, Livepatch, Kubernetes
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Lottie animations, Google Tag Manager, LazySizes (lazy loading images), Web fonts (Ubuntu font family)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status includes clientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Google DoubleClick tracking pixel
Transparency
basic

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-structured
  2. Extensive product and solution offerings related to open source and cloud technologies
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found on the homepage content provided
  4. Contact is primarily via contact form; no explicit emails or phone numbers found in the content provided
  5. Use of modern web technologies and performance optimizations
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  7. Advertising and tracking limited to Google services
  8. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure found
  9. No explicit security or incident response policies published
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses modern web standards and technologies, including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and advanced animation libraries. Performance optimizations such as lazy loading and preloading of fonts and JSON assets are implemented. The site is mobile responsive and accessible, with clear navigation and well-structured content. Hosting and domain registration are managed by reputable providers. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. The technical implementation supports a fast, reliable, and user-friendly experience, suitable for an enterprise-grade technology company.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 80/100 +2Low24 findingsView report
  2. 78/100Low23 findingsView report
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