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Is brc.ac.uk a Scam? Security Check Results - Biological Records Centre

brc.ac.uk Security Report Summary

brc.ac.uk received a security score of 66 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers Biological Records Centre's website security posture. Biological Records Centre operates in the Government industry in United Kingdom.

The Biological Records Centre (BRC) is a well-established UK national organization focused on terrestrial and freshwater species recording, collaborating closely with volunteer recording communities and government research bodies. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content supporting biological recording, research, and conservation efforts. It is supported by reputable partners such as the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, reinforcing its credibility and authority in the environmental research sector. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 10 with modern web technologies and demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though there is room for improvement in security headers and published security policies. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and compliant with privacy regulations, though WHOIS data is unavailable likely due to privacy protection common for .uk domains. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing incident response information, and adding vulnerability disclosure details to further strengthen trust and security.

The security scan identified 32 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Drupal 10, Bootstrap 3.4.8, Google Analytics, FontAwesome 5.13.1.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is brc.ac.uk Safe? Security Analysis for Biological Records Centre

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GovernmentUnited Kingdommedium
Drupal 10Bootstrap 3.4.8Google AnalyticsFontAwesome 5.13.1
Analyzed 10/28/2025Completed 11:34:56 PM6mo ago
66
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Government avg (70)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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AI Summary

The Biological Records Centre (BRC) is a well-established UK national organization focused on terrestrial and freshwater species recording, collaborating closely with volunteer recording communities and government research bodies. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content supporting biological recording, research, and conservation efforts. It is supported by reputable partners such as the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, reinforcing its credibility and authority in the environmental research sector. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 10 with modern web technologies and demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though there is room for improvement in security headers and published security policies. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and compliant with privacy regulations, though WHOIS data is unavailable likely due to privacy protection common for .uk domains. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing incident response information, and adding vulnerability disclosure details to further strengthen trust and security.

Detected Technologies

Drupal 10Bootstrap 3.4.8Google AnalyticsFontAwesome 5.13.1

8 urgent findings need attention

8 high

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Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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Security Headers

6 findings

50/100

GDPR Compliance

2 findings

80/100

NIS2 Compliance

9 findings

2/100

Email Security

4 findings

75/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

BRC occupies a strong position in the UK environmental research and conservation ecosystem, leveraging partnerships with government and research institutions. Its business model is non-profit and research-focused, targeting naturalists, researchers, and conservationists. The organization benefits from a long history since 1964 and a broad network of recording schemes and societies. The website supports this ecosystem by providing data publishing, online resources, and technological tools to facilitate biological recording. The partnership ecosystem is robust, including JNCC, UKCEH, NERC, and the National Biodiversity Network. Growth indicators include active news updates and ongoing development of apps and data tools. The site’s professional content and consistent branding support its authoritative market presence.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism that respects GDPR requirements. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces the overall security posture. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response contact information, which could hinder rapid response to security incidents. The site does not publish a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file, limiting transparency for security researchers. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government-affiliated research site but could be improved with additional security best practices and transparency.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and enforce security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Biological Records Centre

Description:

A UK national focus for terrestrial and freshwater species recording, established in 1964, working closely with voluntary recording communities and supporting national recording schemes and societies.

Key Services:
Support for biological recording schemes and societiesPublishing atlases and biodiversity dataProviding online resources and toolsWebsite hosting and development supportApplication of technology and science to biological recording
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Drupal 10Bootstrap 3.4.8Google AnalyticsFontAwesome 5.13.1
Frameworks:
Drupal
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
75/100
Best Practices:
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by canonical URL https://www.brc.ac.uk/home)
  • Cookie consent banner with categories and withdrawal options
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Analytics
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

50/100
Score

Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration

LOW

Current value: "max-age=300"

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

80/100
Score

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy85% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: transport, digital

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📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:mailanyone.net mx ~all
DNS Lookups:3/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:selector1(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:dmarc-aggregate@ukri.org

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

72/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 88 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

65/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Transfer Lock Not Enabled

MEDIUM

Domain can be transferred without authorization

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
29 years(mature)
Protection Level
none
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • No domain protection locks enabled

DNS Records

A Records:23.185.0.1
AAAA Records:2620:12a:8000::1, 2620:12a:8001::1
Name Servers:
gannon.ns.cloudflare.comDNS only
venus.ns.cloudflare.comDNS only
MX Records:
10: brc-ac-uk.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2387121334, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Enabled(Algorithm: 13)

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:62ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:mailanyone.net mx ~all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

How does brc.ac.uk compare?

See how brc.ac.uk stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and widely supported CMS, combined with Bootstrap 3.4.8 for responsive design and FontAwesome for iconography. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are used for analytics and marketing tracking. The site shows good mobile optimization and accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA roles. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of analytics scripts and use of CDN for Bootstrap CSS. The site structure is clear with well-organized navigation menus and content sections. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated technologies. Opportunities exist to improve performance by upgrading Bootstrap to a newer version and optimizing image delivery further. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified from the content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly experience.
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Plan Comparison

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Professional PDF export
Email delivery
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Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainbrc.ac.uk
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

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