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Security report for reading.ac.uk

University of Reading · Education · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 2 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and Security headers.

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The University of Reading is a well-established higher education institution in the United Kingdom, celebrating its centenary in 2026. It offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, research programs, and community engagement activities. The website targets prospective and current students, staff, alumni, and researchers, positioning itself as a globally recognized university with a strong academic reputation. The business model focuses on education delivery, research excellence, and student services. The presence of subsidiaries such as Henley Business School and a Malaysia campus indicates a broad operational footprint.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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

2 findings 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

  2. 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 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';…

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

Keep watching reading.ac.uk

This scan found 23 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
69
Security headers
40
Email security
88
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
74

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 reading.ac.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
9,765
Employees
230
Customers
7,980
Third parties
1,555
Weak passwords
23%

Latest record dated 2026-06-18 · 125 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 reading.ac.uk.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –risis.reading.ac.uk2026-06-18
  • –owamail.reading.ac.uk2026-06-16
  • –risisweb.reading.ac.uk2026-06-13
  • –www.risisweb.reading.ac.uk2026-06-13
  • –adfs.auth.reading.ac.uk2026-06-13

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 maintains a strong market position within the UK and internationally, leveraging its academic programs and research capabilities. Its partnership ecosystem includes affiliated campuses and business schools. The website content is professionally presented with clear navigation and comprehensive course listings, supporting effective user engagement. Revenue streams likely include tuition fees, research grants, and partnerships. The institution demonstrates growth through digital presence and event promotion, such as open days and centenary celebrations.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and implements key security headers, indicating a good baseline security posture. Cookie consent mechanisms comply with GDPR requirements, and analytics are managed via Google Tag Manager and Siteimprove Analytics. However, explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure information are absent, representing areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analyzed content. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from enhanced transparency and formalized security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  3. Provide clear contact details for the Data Protection Officer to enhance GDPR compliance.
  4. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and analytics tools to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance data retention and privacy policy disclosures to align with best practices and regulatory expectations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
University of Reading
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of Reading
Description
Discover the University of Reading, a global university that enjoys a world-class reputation for teaching, research and enterprise.
Key services
Undergraduate courses, Postgraduate courses, Research programs, Community events, Student support
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Termly cookie consent
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

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

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Marketing tools
Termly cookie consent
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established UK university site with comprehensive course listings.
  2. Cookie consent and privacy policies are implemented with high confidence.
  3. No WHOIS data available to verify domain registration details.
  4. No signs of security blocking or WAF challenges.
  5. Use of Google Tag Manager and Termly for analytics and cookie management.
  6. No visible contact emails or phone numbers in the provided HTML snippet, but contact pages exist.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response information found on main page.
  8. Website is mobile optimized and accessible.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery, with integration of Google Tag Manager and Termly for cookie management. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices evident from meta tags and structured navigation. No explicit CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization. The site architecture supports clear content delivery and user experience, though hosting provider details are not disclosed. Technical risks are minimal but should be monitored through regular audits.
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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