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Security report for plymouth.ac.uk

University of Plymouth · Education · United Kingdom

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

Security score

85/100

Risk levelLow

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

The University of Plymouth website serves as the digital presence for a large UK-based educational institution focused on advancing knowledge and transforming lives through higher education and research. The site targets prospective and current students, researchers, and the academic community, offering information about courses, research programs, and student services. The website demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure with modern technologies such as AWS Cloudfront CDN, Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, and Cookiebot for privacy compliance and user experience enhancement. The use of Ruby on Rails is implied by the presence of CSRF tokens, indicating a robust backend framework. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced, cookie consent mechanisms, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, explicit security headers could be more clearly implemented and documented. Privacy compliance is well addressed with a comprehensive cookie policy and GDPR-aligned consent management. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain registration insights, but the overall professionalism and trust indicators suggest legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security header implementation, publishing incident response and security policies, and adding a vulnerability disclosure mechanism to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 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 plymouth.ac.uk

This scan found 15 issues across 5 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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Recommended

€25per month

  • 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
83
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
100
Average
85

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 plymouth.ac.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
10,836
Employees
888
Customers
6,014
Third parties
3,934
Weak passwords
6%

Latest record dated 2026-06-17 · 176 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 plymouth.ac.uk.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –adfs.plymouth.ac.uk2026-06-17
  • –pgtapply.plymouth.ac.uk2026-06-17
  • –itselfservice.plymouth.ac.uk2026-06-17
  • –adfs.plymouth.ac.uk2026-06-17
  • –app.eservices.plymouth.ac.uk2026-06-17

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

The University of Plymouth holds a solid market position as a reputable UK university offering a broad range of academic programs and research opportunities. Its business model centers on education and research services, targeting students and academic professionals. The website reflects a consistent branding strategy and leverages partnerships with service providers like Unibuddy and Formtitan for enhanced user engagement. Revenue streams likely include tuition fees, research grants, and partnerships. The digital presence indicates a focus on user experience and compliance, with extensive use of analytics and marketing tools. Growth indicators include active social media engagement and modern web technologies. The partnership ecosystem includes cookie management and analytics providers, supporting operational efficiency and regulatory adherence.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, cookie consent management, and CSRF protection. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. The use of multiple analytics and marketing scripts is managed with user consent, aligning with privacy regulations. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options were not explicitly found and should be implemented to mitigate risks like clickjacking and MIME sniffing. The lack of publicly available security policies and incident response information suggests room for improvement in transparency and preparedness. Overall, the site balances usability and security effectively but could enhance its security maturity by adopting additional best practices and publishing relevant policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and explicitly configure security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a publicly accessible security policy and incident response plan to improve transparency and preparedness.
  3. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program with a security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance contact information visibility, including dedicated security and privacy contacts, to build user trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of Plymouth
Description
Welcome to the University of Plymouth, advancing knowledge, transforming lives.
Key services
Higher education courses, Research programs, Student support services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, Cloudfront CDN, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Cookiebot, Microsoft Clarity
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails (implied by csrf-token meta tags)
Platforms
AWS Cloudfront CDN
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner with granular controls
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of CSRF tokens

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, Siteimprove Analytics
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick, Admedo
Tracking pixels
Microsoft Clarity, Cookiebot
Marketing tools
Cookiebot
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenge
  2. Comprehensive cookie consent mechanism implemented
  3. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in provided HTML snippet
  4. Strong use of third-party analytics and marketing tools with consent
  5. No visible security vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, likely due to privacy protection or query failure
  7. Content is relevant to higher education and research
  8. Social media presence includes Twitter and Facebook
  9. No terms of service or security policy pages explicitly found in provided data
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern technology stack featuring Ruby on Rails backend (implied), JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5 frontend technologies. It leverages AWS Cloudfront as a CDN for asset delivery, improving performance and scalability. Analytics and marketing tools include Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, and Cookiebot for consent management. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features, contributing to excellent user experience. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in asset loading and script management. The absence of explicit CMS identification suggests a custom or proprietary platform. Technical risks are minimal but include reliance on multiple third-party scripts which require ongoing security monitoring. Opportunities exist to modernize security headers and enhance SEO and accessibility further.
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. 66/100Medium23 findingsView report
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