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Is edinburgh.gov.uk a Scam? Security Check Results - The City of Edinburgh Council

edinburgh.gov.uk Security Report Summary

edinburgh.gov.uk received a security score of 68 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers The City of Edinburgh Council's website security posture. The City of Edinburgh Council operates in the Government industry in United Kingdom.

The City of Edinburgh Council website serves as the official online presence for the local government authority of Edinburgh, UK. It provides a wide range of public services and information including council tax, housing, social care, planning, and community engagement. The site targets residents, businesses, and visitors of Edinburgh, offering accessible and comprehensive resources to support civic needs. The business model is that of a public sector entity focused on service delivery and community support. Technically, the website employs a modern technology stack including jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Cludo Analytics for search and user behavior tracking. It uses the Jadu CMS platform and implements cookie consent mechanisms compliant with GDPR. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, contributing to a positive user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses cookie consent to manage analytics tracking. However, it lacks explicit security headers and a published security or incident response policy. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain registration trust analysis, but the official .gov.uk domain and consistent branding support legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with moderate to good security and privacy compliance. Strategic improvements include enhancing security headers, publishing security policies, and providing clear security incident contacts to strengthen trust and resilience.

The security scan identified 31 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Cludo Analytics, Civic Cookie Control.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and business-context intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is edinburgh.gov.uk Safe? Security Analysis for The City of Edinburgh Council

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/

Check if edinburgh.gov.uk is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

GovernmentUnited Kingdomlarge
jQueryGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerCludo AnalyticsCivic Cookie Control
Analyzed Completed
68
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Government avg (70)

GDPR-aligned

Data handling

EU

Hosting region

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AI Summary

The City of Edinburgh Council website serves as the official online presence for the local government authority of Edinburgh, UK. It provides a wide range of public services and information including council tax, housing, social care, planning, and community engagement. The site targets residents, businesses, and visitors of Edinburgh, offering accessible and comprehensive resources to support civic needs. The business model is that of a public sector entity focused on service delivery and community support. Technically, the website employs a modern technology stack including jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Cludo Analytics for search and user behavior tracking. It uses the Jadu CMS platform and implements cookie consent mechanisms compliant with GDPR. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, contributing to a positive user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses cookie consent to manage analytics tracking. However, it lacks explicit security headers and a published security or incident response policy. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain registration trust analysis, but the official .gov.uk domain and consistent branding support legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with moderate to good security and privacy compliance. Strategic improvements include enhancing security headers, publishing security policies, and providing clear security incident contacts to strengthen trust and resilience.

Detected Technologies

jQueryGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerCludo AnalyticsCivic Cookie Control

8 urgent findings need attention

8 high

Continuous monitoring

Keep edinburgh.gov.uk under constant watch

Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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OffSeq Observations

No critical findings yet

81/100

Email Security

4 findings

90/100

DNS Health

4 findings

70/100

Network Security

1 finding

100/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The City of Edinburgh Council holds a strong market position as the primary local government authority for Edinburgh, serving a large population with essential public services. Its competitive advantage lies in its official status, comprehensive service offerings, and digital accessibility. Revenue streams are primarily public funding and council tax collection. The target customer segments include residents, businesses, and visitors. Growth indicators include active community engagement campaigns and digital service expansion. The council maintains partnerships with various government and community organizations, though no explicit partner domains were identified. Operationally, the council focuses on transparency, accessibility, and service efficiency.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a moderate to advanced security maturity level with enforced HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms. Key strengths include no visible vulnerabilities, no exposed sensitive data, and use of reputable analytics tools with opt-in consent. Compliance with GDPR is evident through privacy and cookie policies. However, gaps exist such as missing security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options), absence of a public security policy or incident response page, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly visible. Addressing these gaps would improve overall security posture and compliance.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.

Observations

Comprehensive website and business-context analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

The City of Edinburgh Council

Description:

The City of Edinburgh Council homepage providing information and services related to local government functions in Edinburgh, UK.

Key Services:
ArchivesBenefits and grantsBins and recyclingBirths, marriages and deathsBusiness and licensingCouncil and CommitteesCouncil TaxEmergency, safety and crimeEvents and venuesHousing
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
jQueryGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerCludo AnalyticsCivic Cookie Control
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with opt-in/out
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for analytics control

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsCludo Analytics
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Cludo Analytics
Marketing Tools:
Cludo Analytics
Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Official City of Edinburgh Council website with comprehensive local government services.

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

60/100
Score

Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration

LOW

Current value: "max-age=2592000"

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

68/100
Score

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: energy, transport, health, digital

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📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

90/100
Score

Complex SPF record

LOW

Too many include statements can cause lookup limits

Strict DMARC Alignment

LOW

Strict alignment may cause legitimate emails to fail

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.edin.org include:spf.edinburgh.gov.uk include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf-ext.necsws.com include:_spf.firmstep.com ~all
DNS Lookups:5/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:selector1(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:selector2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Subdomain Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:[email protected]
MTA-STS Details

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

69/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

Short HSTS Max-Age

LOW

HSTS max-age is less than 1 year

HSTS Missing includeSubDomains

LOW

HSTS header does not include subdomains

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

70/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Transfer Lock Not Enabled

MEDIUM

Domain can be transferred without authorization

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
29 years(mature)
Protection Level
none
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • No domain protection locks enabled

DNS Records

A Records:35.178.228.143
Name Servers:
ns0.edin.orgDNS only
ns1.edin.orgDNS only
ns2.edin.orgDNS only
ns3.edin.orgDNS only
MX Records:
0: edinburgh-gov-uk.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2026033002, TTL: 86400s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:67ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.edin.org include:spf.edinburgh.gov.uk include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:_spf-ext.necsws.com include:_spf.firmstep.com ~all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

How does edinburgh.gov.uk compare?

See how edinburgh.gov.uk stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website infrastructure is built on the Jadu CMS platform with a technology stack that includes jQuery and multiple analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Cludo Analytics. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and accessibility features. The site uses modern meta tags and SEO best practices. Technical debt appears low, but opportunities exist to enhance security headers and streamline third-party script usage. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified. Overall, the technical implementation supports a stable and user-friendly experience with room for security and performance optimizations.
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Full Report
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39.90
Total
Incl. 21% VAT
39.90
Already purchased? Enter unlock code
VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Payvia EveryPay
SEQ SIA
Reg. No. 40203410806 · VAT LV40203410806

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