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Security report for gov.uk

Government Digital Service · Government · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 10 critical or high findings in Email security.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

GOV.UK is the official digital platform of the UK government, providing a centralized portal for accessing a wide range of government services and information. It serves a broad audience including UK residents, businesses, and citizens, offering key services such as benefits, business guidance, childcare, citizenship, justice, driving, education, tax, passports, visas, and employment support. The platform is managed by the Government Digital Service and has been operational since 1996, reflecting a mature and authoritative presence in the public sector digital space. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including JavaScript ES modules, performance monitoring tools like Lux, and Google Analytics 4 for user insights. It uses a custom government CMS and the GOV.UK Frontend framework, ensuring excellent performance, mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO. The site is hosted under UK government infrastructure with direct domain registration via Nominet, reinforcing its legitimacy. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, implements cookie consent mechanisms, and uses secure forms with anti-spam features. While explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not published on the homepage, the overall security posture is strong with no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies aligned with GDPR requirements. Overall, GOV.UK demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and user-centric design. It is a safe, reliable, and authoritative source for government-related digital services and information. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies, adding a security.txt file for vulnerability disclosures, and enhancing direct security contact channels to further strengthen trust and transparency.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of gov.uk. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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

10 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

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Keep watching gov.uk

This scan found 24 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.

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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
100
Security headers
70
Email security
0
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
71

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention gov.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for gov.uk right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

GOV.UK occupies a dominant market position as the primary digital gateway for UK government services, offering comprehensive coverage across multiple public sectors. Its business model is focused on public service delivery rather than commercial revenue generation. The platform benefits from strong government backing, a large user base, and integration with various government departments and agencies. The absence of advertising and affiliate programs underscores its public service nature. The partnership ecosystem includes government bodies and official data providers. Growth indicators include continuous content updates, emergency alert integration, and advanced analytics usage. The platform's operations reflect a mature, enterprise-scale digital service with a focus on accessibility, compliance, and user engagement.

Security posture

The security maturity of GOV.UK is high, with enforced HTTPS, secure cookie management, and anti-spam measures in forms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of publicly available explicit security policies and incident response information represents a compliance gap. There is no visible security.txt file or dedicated security contact email, which could hinder vulnerability reporting and incident management. The site demonstrates good privacy compliance with GDPR-aligned policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the security culture appears robust but could benefit from enhanced transparency and formalized incident response documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and compliance frameworks.
  2. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures.
  3. Add explicit incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  4. Enhance HTTP security headers (e.g., Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options) if not already configured.
  5. Maintain and regularly update privacy and cookie policies to reflect evolving regulations and technologies.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Government Digital Service
Description
GOV.UK is the UK government's official website providing access to government services and information across multiple sectors including benefits, business, childcare, citizenship, justice, disabilities, driving, education, environment, housing, tax, passports, visas, and working.
Key services
Benefits information and applications, Business and self-employed guidance, Childcare and parenting support, Citizenship and immigration services, Driving and transport services, Education and learning resources, Tax and money management, Passports and travel advice, Job search and employment services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript ES Modules, Lux (performance monitoring), GA4 (Google Analytics 4), Gem components (govuk_publishing_components), SVG graphics
Frameworks
GOV.UK Frontend
Platforms
Government Digital Service platform
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner with acceptance/rejection options
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with anti-spam honeypot field
  • Use of nonce in inline scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics 4, Lux
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics 4
Marketing tools
GA4 analytics, Lux performance monitoring
Transparency
excellent

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Official UK government website with comprehensive public service information
  2. Strong focus on accessibility and user experience
  3. Robust cookie consent mechanism implemented
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers publicly listed; contact via forms
  5. No explicit security or incident response policies published on homepage
  6. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools
  7. No advertising or affiliate marketing present
  8. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern, custom government CMS platform utilizing GOV.UK Frontend components and JavaScript ES modules. Performance monitoring is integrated via Lux, and user analytics are collected through Google Analytics 4. The site is optimized for mobile devices and accessibility, adhering to government standards. Hosting appears to be managed by UK government infrastructure with direct domain registration through Nominet. The technical implementation is clean, with no broken elements or errors detected. Opportunities exist to further enhance security headers and formalize vulnerability disclosure mechanisms to reduce technical risk.
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. 70/100 −1Medium32 findingsView report
  2. 71/100 −11Medium33 findingsView report
  3. 82/100Low20 findingsView report
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