Skip to main content

Is lancaster.ac.uk a Scam? Security Check Results - Lancaster University

lancaster.ac.uk Security Report Summary

lancaster.ac.uk received a security score of 61 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers Lancaster University's website security posture. Lancaster University operates in the Education industry in United Kingdom.

Lancaster University is a well-established higher education institution in the United Kingdom, recognized as a top 10 UK university with strong international rankings and a focus on sustainability and teaching excellence. The website provides comprehensive information about undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs, as well as campus life and community engagement. The target audience includes prospective and current students, academic staff, and international applicants. Technically, the site uses modern web technologies such as jQuery, Foundation framework, and Google Tag Manager, with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though explicit security headers and policies could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data is likely due to privacy protections and does not detract from the site's legitimacy, which is supported by consistent branding and official university content.

The security scan identified 33 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: jQuery 3.5.1, Google Tag Manager, Foundation 6.9.0, Slick Carousel, Adobe Accessible Mega Menu.

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.

lancaster.ac.uk favicon

Is lancaster.ac.uk Safe? Security Analysis for Lancaster University

http://lancaster.ac.uk

Check if lancaster.ac.uk is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

EducationUnited Kingdomlarge
jQuery 3.5.1Google Tag ManagerFoundation 6.9.0Slick CarouselAdobe Accessible Mega Menu
Analyzed Completed
61
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Above Education avg (55)

GDPR-aligned

Data handling

EU

Hosting region

EveryPay

Secure checkout

Instant

Reports delivered

Professional Report

Unlock the full report for lancaster.ac.uk

Professional PDF, email delivery, and optional intelligence add-ons. One-time purchase, lifetime access.

Optional add-ons

via BREACH

Your order

Full Report
PDF · email delivery · lifetime access
39.90
Total
Incl. 21% VAT
39.90
Already purchased? Enter unlock code
VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Payvia EveryPay
SEQ SIA
Reg. No. 40203410806 · VAT LV40203410806

AI Summary

Lancaster University is a well-established higher education institution in the United Kingdom, recognized as a top 10 UK university with strong international rankings and a focus on sustainability and teaching excellence. The website provides comprehensive information about undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs, as well as campus life and community engagement. The target audience includes prospective and current students, academic staff, and international applicants. Technically, the site uses modern web technologies such as jQuery, Foundation framework, and Google Tag Manager, with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though explicit security headers and policies could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data is likely due to privacy protections and does not detract from the site's legitimacy, which is supported by consistent branding and official university content.

Detected Technologies

jQuery 3.5.1Google Tag ManagerFoundation 6.9.0Slick CarouselAdobe Accessible Mega Menu

9 urgent findings need attention

9 high

  • + 1 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

Keep lancaster.ac.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

25 €
per month · billed securely via EveryPay
Less than 1 € / day — cheaper than a single incident response hour

Cancel anytime. Alerts sent to the contacts you choose. Unlock the full report to view historical timelines and alerts.

Purchase to access the monitoring timeline, JSON diffs, alert history, and PDF export for lancaster.ac.uk.

Security Headers

6 findings

50/100

GDPR Compliance

2 findings

83/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

2 findings

75/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Lancaster University operates in the education sector, providing degree programs, research opportunities, and community services. It holds a strong market position as a top-ranked UK university with a large campus and extensive student services. The business model is centered on academic education and research, supported by a collegiate community structure. The university maintains partnerships, including an official Chinese language site, and actively engages with prospective students through open days and virtual tours. The website reflects a mature digital presence with professional content and multiple trust indicators such as accreditations and social media channels.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and a cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR requirements. However, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are not clearly present in the HTML source, representing an area for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The lack of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency in security governance. Overall, the site is secure but could enhance its security communication and header implementation.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and verify comprehensive security headers including CSP, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.

Observations

Comprehensive website and business-context analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Lancaster University

Description:

Lancaster University is among the best in the UK. A top 10 UK university, highly ranked internationally in QS World Rankings. Provides undergraduate, postgraduate, research, and online courses with a strong collegiate community.

Key Services:
Undergraduate coursesPostgraduate coursesPostgraduate researchOnline studyResearch servicesCampus accommodation
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
jQuery 3.5.1Google Tag ManagerFoundation 6.9.0Slick CarouselAdobe Accessible Mega Menu
Frameworks:
Foundation
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation

Get this report delivered to your inbox

Receive a summary of the lancaster.ac.uk security findings by email. Quick and easy to share with decision makers.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

50/100
Score

Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration

LOW

Current value: "max-age=3600"

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

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

83/100
Score

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

17/100
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

Need this report as a PDF?

Download the complete lancaster.ac.uk security analysis as a professional PDF. Share it with your team, clients, or stakeholders.

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

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 ip4:148.88.65.128/28 ip4:148.88.82.55 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ?all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:?all
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:[email protected]
Forensic Reports:[email protected]
MTA-STS Details

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

44/100
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

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 46 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

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

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

30/100
Score

No Name Servers Found

HIGH

Unable to find name servers for domain

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

Weak SPF Policy

HIGH

SPF record has permissive policy allowing any server to send email

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

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

DNS Records

A Records:148.88.65.80
AAAA Records:2001:630:80:2ff::80:1
MX Records:
10: mh-fa-0.lancs.ac.uk
10: mh-is-0.lancs.ac.uk
20: mh-fa-1.lancs.ac.uk
20: mh-is-1.lancs.ac.uk
SOA:Serial: 1784319741, TTL: 900s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Enabled(Algorithm: 15)

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:48ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 ip4:148.88.65.128/28 ip4:148.88.82.55 include:spf.protection.outlook.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 lancaster.ac.uk compare?

See how lancaster.ac.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 uses a modern technology stack including jQuery 3.5.1, Foundation 6.9.0 framework, and Slick Carousel for UI components. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and marketing tags. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and Open Graph data. The CMS is not explicitly identified but appears to be custom or proprietary. Performance is moderate with asynchronous script loading and lazy loading of images. There is no indication of outdated or vulnerable libraries. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly experience.
Professional Report

Download the lancaster.ac.uk report as PDF

Get the complete analysis in a shareable PDF format, delivered instantly to your email with lifetime access.

Optional add-ons

via BREACH

Your order

Full Report
PDF · email delivery · lifetime access
39.90
Total
Incl. 21% VAT
39.90
Already purchased? Enter unlock code
VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Payvia EveryPay
SEQ SIA
Reg. No. 40203410806 · VAT LV40203410806

Scan your own website

Liked the lancaster.ac.uk report? Run the same comprehensive security analysis on your domain — free, instant, and no sign-up required.

Or browse our directory of >10,000 scanned websites.

⭐ Verified Community Reviews

What others say about lancaster.ac.uk

Share your experience to help others make informed decisions. We verify every review by email and publish it once our moderation team approves it.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

out of 5

0 reviews published

Loading reviews…

How did we do?

Your feedback directly shapes our roadmap. Rate the quality of this report, leave an optional comment, and let us know if you want our security specialists to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.

Analyze Another Website