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Security report for wellcome.ac.uk

Wellcome · Healthcare · United Kingdom

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Wellcome is a globally recognized charitable foundation dedicated to advancing discovery research in life sciences, health, and wellbeing. The organization focuses on critical global health challenges including mental health, infectious diseases, and climate-related health issues. Their market position is strong, supported by a large portfolio of active grants and a significant charitable expenditure. The website reflects a professional and authoritative presence, targeting researchers, policymakers, and the general public interested in health and science. Technically, the website is built on modern frameworks such as Next.js and React, hosted on AWS infrastructure, and incorporates performance and accessibility best practices. The use of Google Tag Manager and Web Vitals indicates a mature approach to analytics and performance monitoring. The site is mobile-optimized and SEO-friendly, with structured data and meta tags properly implemented. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, employs domain status protections, and has a cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR requirements. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and there is no explicit security policy or incident response contact information published. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, security, and compliance suitable for a large charitable organization. Strategic recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, publishing a formal security policy, and establishing a vulnerability disclosure program to further enhance trust and security posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 100 · Medium
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

5 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

  3. 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 wellcome.ac.uk

This scan found 22 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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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
67
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
70

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 wellcome.ac.uk, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1,114
Employees
0
Customers
1,110
Third parties
4
Weak passwords
9%

21 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 wellcome.ac.uk.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

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Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Wellcome operates as a large charitable foundation with a focus on healthcare and scientific research funding. Its competitive advantage lies in its long history, global reach, and comprehensive funding portfolio supporting thousands of grants worldwide. The business model centers on grant funding, advocacy, and public engagement through content and museum initiatives. The organization targets a diverse audience including researchers, health professionals, and the public. Growth indicators include active grant numbers and significant charitable expenditure. Partnerships with related domains like funding.wellcome.org and wellcomecollection.org support its ecosystem. The website content and structure reflect a mature and well-established operation with clear strategic priorities.

Security posture

The website exhibits a strong security posture with mandatory HTTPS, domain status protections, and cookie consent mechanisms. The absence of DNSSEC is a minor gap. No security.txt or explicit incident response contacts were found, which could improve transparency and readiness. The site avoids exposing sensitive data and uses modern libraries without known vulnerabilities. Analytics and tracking are implemented with privacy considerations, including denied ad storage by default. Overall, the security maturity is high for a non-profit organization, but could be enhanced by formalizing security policies and vulnerability disclosure processes.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and incident response.
  3. Implement a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Maintain and regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to avoid vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance contact information with direct security or abuse contacts to improve incident handling.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Wellcome
Description
Wellcome is a global charitable foundation supporting discovery research into life, health and wellbeing, focusing on mental health, climate and health, and infectious diseases.
Key services
Research funding, Engagement and advocacy, Publication of articles and reports, Hosting Wellcome Collection museum, Providing funding guidance and portfolio management
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Google Tag Manager, Web Vitals, AWS DNS
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited domain statuses
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

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. Clear focus on health research and global health challenges.
  3. Strong presence of privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and performance optimizations.
  6. Active social media integration with official channels.
  7. No exposed sensitive data or security misconfigurations detected.
  8. WHOIS privacy protection is used but justified.
  9. No security.txt or explicit security policy found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using Next.js and React, leveraging server-side rendering and modern JavaScript frameworks for performance and SEO benefits. Hosting is on AWS with Amazon Registrar managing the domain. The site uses Google Tag Manager for analytics and event tracking, including advanced user interaction events. Images are optimized with responsive srcsets and lazy loading. Accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA roles are present. The site is mobile responsive and uses structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO. Performance is optimized with preloading and deferred scripts. No major technical debt or outdated technologies were detected.
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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