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Security report for jisc.ac.uk

Jisc · Education · United Kingdom

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

86/100

Risk levelLow

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

Jisc is a well-established UK-based organization focused on providing digital technology and data services to the tertiary education, research, and innovation sectors. Their offerings include training, cloud services, AI, cybersecurity, connectivity, and data analytics, positioning them as a key enabler for UK education institutions. The website reflects a mature digital presence with modern frameworks such as Next.js and Material-UI, and integrates multiple analytics and tracking tools to optimize user experience and marketing efforts. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, strict Content-Security-Policy headers, and bot protection via hCaptcha, although explicit privacy and security policies are not clearly presented in the accessible content. Overall, the site is professional, well-branded, and trustworthy, with a domain age and registration consistent with a legitimate and established organization.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of jisc.ac.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

1 finding 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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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
70
Security headers
95
Email security
93
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
86

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

Jisc operates as an essential entity within the UK education sector, providing critical infrastructure and services that support digital transformation and innovation. Their business model is membership and service-based, targeting universities, colleges, and research institutions. The organization leverages partnerships and a broad service portfolio to maintain market leadership. The website content and structure indicate a focus on community engagement through events, training, and collaborative initiatives. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers suggests a controlled communication approach, likely to manage inquiries efficiently. The presence of multiple analytics and marketing tools indicates a data-driven approach to audience engagement and service improvement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy that restricts resource loading to trusted domains and uses nonces and hashes for scripts. The use of hCaptcha and bot mitigation services further strengthens security. However, the lack of publicly accessible privacy policies, terms of service, and incident response contacts represents a compliance gap, particularly regarding GDPR and NIS2 regulations. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. The organization should consider publishing detailed security and privacy documentation to enhance transparency and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy detailing data processing and GDPR compliance.
  2. Add terms of service and security policy pages accessible from the main navigation or footer.
  3. Provide explicit incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  4. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures.
  5. Include data protection officer contact information to improve compliance and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Jisc
Description
Jisc leads the UK tertiary education, research and innovation sectors to be pioneers in the use of digital technology and data. They provide training, advice, connectivity, cloud, AI, cyber security, data analytics, and library resources to education and research institutions.
Key services
Training, Advice and guidance, Artificial intelligence, Cloud services, Connectivity, Cyber security, Data analytics, Libraries and learning resources
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Material-UI, Google Fonts, YouTube iframe API, Hotjar, Matomo Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, hCaptcha
Frameworks
Next.js, Material-UI
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • Strict Content-Security-Policy with nonce and hashes
  • Use of HTTPS
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • Use of hCaptcha for bot protection

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo, Google Analytics, Hotjar, Visual Website Optimizer
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar, Matomo, Visual Website Optimizer
Marketing tools
Visual Website Optimizer
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses modern web technologies and frameworks.
  2. Strong focus on education and research sectors.
  3. Good security practices with CSP and HTTPS.
  4. Cookie consent banner present and functional.
  5. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service found in the provided content.
  6. Contact information primarily via contact form; no direct emails or phone numbers found in content.
  7. Multiple external analytics and tracking services used.
  8. No signs of suspicious or malicious content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React-based framework (Next.js) with Material-UI for UI components, ensuring responsive and accessible design. Hosting leverages AWS services including S3 for static assets and API Gateway for backend functions. Performance is optimized with preloading fonts and deferred script loading. SEO is supported by appropriate meta tags and Open Graph properties, although some meta descriptions are empty. Accessibility features such as skip links and focus-visible outlines are implemented. The technical stack is robust and well-maintained, with no apparent technical debt or outdated libraries detected in the provided 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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 86/100Low21 findingsView report
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