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Security report for manchester.ac.uk

The University of Manchester · Education · United Kingdom

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

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

The University of Manchester is a leading UK higher education institution known for its research excellence and diverse student community. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive information on undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs, as well as business engagement and community initiatives. The site targets prospective and current students, researchers, and academic collaborators, positioning itself strongly in the global education market as evidenced by its QS ranking and Russell Group membership. Technically, the website employs modern technologies such as Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for cookie consent, with embedded multimedia content enhancing user engagement. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though there is room for improvement in publishing explicit security policies and headers. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with privacy regulations, making it a reliable digital asset for the university.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching manchester.ac.uk

This scan found 17 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
77
Security headers
80
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
81

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

The University of Manchester operates in the education sector, providing a wide range of academic programs and research opportunities. Its business model focuses on tuition, research funding, and community engagement. The university enjoys a strong market position as a Russell Group member and a top-ranked global institution. Its digital ecosystem includes partnerships and social media channels to engage stakeholders. The website content and structure support recruitment and information dissemination effectively. Growth indicators include active promotion of virtual open weeks and international student services. The absence of direct payment processor domains or subsidiaries in the analysis suggests these functions may be handled by external trusted partners.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and a robust cookie consent framework via OneTrust. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and a publicly available security policy or incident response plan indicates areas for enhancement. There is no visible vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file, which could improve transparency and trust. Compliance with GDPR is evident through privacy and cookie policies. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly documented, which is common for educational institutions but could be improved for stakeholder assurance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Develop and make publicly accessible a formal security policy and incident response plan.
  3. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program and publish a security.txt file to enhance transparency.
  4. Continue to monitor and update cookie consent mechanisms to maintain GDPR compliance.
  5. Enhance contact information with dedicated security and data protection officer contacts for improved trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The University of Manchester
Description
The University of Manchester is the UK’s largest single-site university and a Russell Group member, known for research excellence and a diverse student community.
Key services
Undergraduate study, Taught master's programs, Postgraduate research, Business engagement and knowledge exchange, Research impact and innovation
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, Modernizr, Google Fonts (Open Sans), YouTube embedded videos
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Comprehensive and well-structured website with clear navigation
  2. Strong focus on education, research, and student engagement
  3. Robust cookie consent and privacy mechanisms implemented
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity
  5. No exposed sensitive information or security misconfigurations detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack including Google Tag Manager for analytics and OneTrust for cookie management, indicating a mature approach to user tracking and privacy compliance. The use of Google Fonts and embedded YouTube videos enhances user experience but may impact performance slightly. The site is mobile optimized with good accessibility features such as skip navigation links and ARIA attributes. No CMS was explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement through optimization of external resources and caching strategies. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly digital presence aligned with the university's brand.
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

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