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Security report for ncirl.ie

National College of Ireland · Education · Ireland

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

60/100

Risk levelMedium

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

National College of Ireland (NCI) is a well-established higher education institution based in Dublin, Ireland, offering a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses primarily in business, computing, psychology, and education. The college is HEA-funded and holds reputable accreditations such as QS Stars and Athena Swan Bronze Award, positioning it as a credible and recognized player in the Irish education sector. The website reflects a professional and comprehensive digital presence with clear navigation tailored to students, staff, researchers, and business partners. Technically, the site is built on the DotNetNuke CMS platform, utilizing modern web technologies including jQuery and Bootstrap, and integrates various third-party services for analytics, marketing, and accessibility compliance. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, presence of security headers, and secure form handling, although there is room for improvement in implementing a full Content-Security-Policy. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the website demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure supporting the institution's educational mission effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
48/ 100 · High
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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  2. 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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

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

Keep watching ncirl.ie

This scan found 19 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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

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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
0
Security headers
80
Email security
65
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
48
Average
60

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

NCI operates in the education sector with a focus on delivering academic programs and research initiatives. Its market position is strengthened by government funding and recognized certifications. The business model revolves around tuition-based education, research funding, and business services such as facility hire and incubation centers. The target audience includes domestic and international students, academic staff, and corporate partners. The institution maintains a strong partnership ecosystem with government bodies and educational authorities. The website content and structure indicate a medium-sized organization with a stable market presence and growth orientation.

Security posture

The website exhibits a good security maturity level with enforced HTTPS, use of anti-forgery tokens in forms, and some security headers present. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of a Content-Security-Policy header and incomplete security header implementation suggest areas for enhancement. There is no evidence of a published security policy or incident response contact channels, which could be improved to bolster security culture and readiness. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from formalized policies and additional technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy header to mitigate XSS and related attacks.
  2. Ensure all recommended security headers (e.g., X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy) are fully configured.
  3. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and CMS modules to prevent vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and user privacy practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
National College of Ireland
Description
HEA-funded, third-level college based in Dublin's IFSC area, offering undergraduate and postgraduate courses in business, computing, psychology & education.
Key services
Undergraduate courses, Postgraduate courses, Apprenticeships, Research projects, Business incubation and enterprise services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Bootstrap, DotNetNuke (DNN), EasyDNNNews, DnnSharp SearchBoost, YouTubePopUp, Monsido (accessibility and analytics)
Frameworks
DotNetNuke CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers (some present)
  • Secure forms with anti-forgery tokens (__RequestVerificationToken)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Monsido, Twitter Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Monsido heatmaps, Twitter tracking
Marketing tools
Monsido, OneTrust Cookie Consent
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses DotNetNuke CMS with multiple modules for content management.
  2. Strong focus on education services including courses, research, and student support.
  3. Good integration of accessibility and privacy compliance tools.
  4. Use of multiple external analytics and marketing services with consent mechanisms.
  5. No signs of blocking or WAF challenges; full content accessible.
  6. Comprehensive navigation structure with clear segmentation for students, staff, and business services.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by DotNetNuke CMS, leveraging jQuery and Bootstrap for frontend functionality and responsiveness. It integrates third-party services such as Monsido for accessibility and analytics, Google Tag Manager for marketing analytics, and OneTrust for cookie consent management. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design elements and accessibility features. Performance appears moderate, with potential for optimization in script loading and resource management. The technical infrastructure is modern and supports the institution's digital needs effectively, though continuous maintenance and security updates are recommended.
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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