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Security report for ncl.ac.uk

Newcastle University · Education · United Kingdom

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Newcastle University is a prestigious UK-based research-led university, ranked among the world's top 150 and a founding member of the Russell Group. It offers higher education and research services targeting students, academics, and researchers globally. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content, clear navigation, and professional branding consistent with its academic stature. The university leverages modern web technologies including TerminalFOUR CMS, Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Cloudflare for performance, analytics, and security. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, security headers, and bot detection mechanisms in place. Privacy compliance is robust, featuring detailed privacy and cookie policies with user consent mechanisms and a designated Data Protection Officer contact. However, public security policies and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not evident, representing an area for improvement. Overall, the website is trustworthy, professionally maintained, and aligned with the university's reputation.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  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.

    • 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 ncl.ac.uk

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.

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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
64
Security headers
45
Email security
88
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
95
Average
77

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 ncl.ac.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
8,457
Employees
39
Customers
7,663
Third parties
755
Weak passwords
15%

Latest record dated 2026-06-09 · 120 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for ncl.ac.uk.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –apps.webofknowledge.com.libproxy.ncl.ac.uk2026-06-09
  • –benc-experiments.ncl.ac.uk2026-05-21
  • –apps.webofknowledge.com.libproxy.ncl.ac.uk2026-05-20
  • –vacancies.ncl.ac.uk2026-04-25
  • –webstore.ncl.ac.uk2026-04-25

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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

Newcastle University operates as a large educational institution focused on research and teaching. Its market position as a Russell Group member and top global university provides competitive advantages in attracting students and research funding. The business model centers on tuition, research grants, and community engagement. The website supports this by providing extensive information and services for prospective and current students, researchers, and partners. The university maintains partnerships with major technology and marketing platforms such as Microsoft, HubSpot, and LinkedIn, enhancing its digital ecosystem. Growth indicators include active use of analytics and marketing tools, and a strong brand presence. Strategic observations suggest continued investment in digital infrastructure and compliance will support sustained market leadership.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and bot mitigation via Cloudflare and Datadome. Cookies are managed with explicit consent, and CSRF protections are evident. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. However, the absence of publicly available security policies, incident response plans, and vulnerability disclosure programs indicates gaps in transparency and readiness. Compliance with GDPR is supported by a clear privacy policy and a named Data Protection Officer. Enhancing public security documentation and establishing a formal vulnerability disclosure channel would strengthen the security culture and stakeholder trust.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a formal security policy and incident response plan accessible on the website.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program, including a security.txt file.
  3. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance transparency on data retention and processing practices in privacy documentation.
  5. Maintain and promote the Data Protection Officer contact to reinforce GDPR compliance and user trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Newcastle University
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Newcastle University
Description
Discover Newcastle University, one of the UK’s top rated research universities and a founding member of the Russell group, located in a vibrant and inclusive student city.
Key services
Higher education, Research, Student services, Community engagement
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.7.1, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics (gtag.js), Microsoft Power BI, HubSpot, Cookiebot, Hotjar, Cloudflare, YouTube iframe API, TerminalFOUR CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • Bot detection via Cloudflare and Datadome
  • CSRF protection cookies

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Hotjar, HubSpot
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
HubSpot, Hotjar, Cookiebot
Marketing tools
HubSpot, Cookiebot, Hotjar
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well maintained
  2. Comprehensive cookie and privacy policies with consent mechanism
  3. Use of multiple third-party analytics and marketing tools with consent
  4. No signs of malware or phishing
  5. No exposed sensitive data or obvious vulnerabilities
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, but domain is a known university domain
  7. No public security or incident response policy found
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt detected
  9. Data Protection Officer contact found, indicating GDPR compliance
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the TerminalFOUR CMS platform, utilizing modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery 3.7.1 and integrates multiple third-party services including Google Tag Manager, HubSpot, Hotjar, and Microsoft Power BI. Hosting and security are augmented by Cloudflare services, providing CDN and bot mitigation. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices. Performance is moderate, with opportunities to optimize loading times further. The technical stack is well maintained, but continuous monitoring and modernization are recommended to reduce technical debt and maintain resilience against emerging threats.
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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