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Is illinois.edu a Scam? Security Check Results - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Reviews

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Is illinois.edu Safe? Security Analysis for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Check if illinois.edu is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

EducationUnited Stateslarge
jQuery 3.7.1Google Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics (gtag.js)OneTrust Cookie ConsentTypekit Fonts+1 more
Analyzed 9/6/2025Completed 4:16:56 AM
63
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign website serves as the official digital presence of a flagship public university in the United States, providing comprehensive information for students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff. The site emphasizes its leadership in research, teaching, and public engagement, positioning itself as a world leader in higher education. The content is rich, professionally presented, and targets a broad academic and community audience. The business model is centered on education, research, and community outreach, supported by a large institutional infrastructure. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, OneTrust for cookie consent, and Typekit fonts, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and SEO practices, although no explicit CMS or hosting provider details were detected. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and implements cookie consent mechanisms, but lacks visible security headers and explicit security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. Privacy compliance is partial, with cookie consent present but no visible privacy policy or terms of service links. Business credibility is high given the institutional nature and consistent branding. Overall, the website is a professional, trustworthy, and safe platform for its audience, with recommendations to enhance security headers, publish privacy and security policies, and provide clearer contact information to improve compliance and user trust.

Detected Technologies

jQuery 3.7.1Google Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics (gtag.js)OneTrust Cookie ConsentTypekit FontsFont Awesome

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign holds a strong market position as a leading public university with a comprehensive range of academic programs, research initiatives, and public engagement activities. Its competitive advantage lies in its reputation, extensive resources, and broad community reach. The business model is primarily educational and research-focused, targeting students, faculty, researchers, and alumni. Revenue streams likely include tuition, research grants, donations, and partnerships. The university maintains a wide partnership ecosystem evident from linked domains and outreach programs. Growth indicators include active news updates and engagement tools. The website reflects a mature digital presence aligned with institutional goals.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces its defense-in-depth posture. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are visible, indicating potential gaps in transparency and readiness. There is no evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries in the analyzed content. Compliance with GDPR is partial due to missing privacy policy visibility. Overall, the security posture is adequate for an educational institution but could be improved with enhanced policies and technical controls.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service accessible from the homepage.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Description:

Information for students, alumni, and parents from Illinois flagship public university, a world leader in research, teaching, and public engagement.

Key Services:
Higher educationResearch programsPublic engagementCampus resourcesAdmissions information
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
jQuery 3.7.1Google Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics (gtag.js)OneTrust Cookie ConsentTypekit FontsFont Awesome
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS usage
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for controlled script loading

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Marketing Tools:
OneTrust Cookie Consent
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is a flagship public university site with comprehensive educational content.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

15/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

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

68/100
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

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

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: energy, transport, banking, health, digital

📧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 redirect=_spf.illinois.edu
DNS Lookups:0/10
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:k2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:dmarc_rua@emaildefense.proofpoint.com
Forensic Reports:dmarc_ruf@emaildefense.proofpoint.com

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

85/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 84 days

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

66 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:illinois.edu
Issuer:R12
Valid Until:11/29/2025 (84 days)
SANs:illinois.edu, www.illinois.edu

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Expiry Risk
none(691 days)

DNS Records

A Records:130.126.157.20
AAAA Records:2620:0:e00:4206::14
Name Servers:
dns1.illinois.eduDNS only
dns2.illinois.eduDNS only
dns3.illinois.eduDNS only
MX Records:
10: incoming-relays.illinois.edu
SOA:Serial: 266663297, TTL: 60s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:171ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 redirect=_spf.illinois.edu

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

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website uses a modern technology stack with jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, OneTrust for cookie consent, and Typekit fonts, ensuring a visually appealing and functional user experience. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with structured navigation and semantic HTML elements. No explicit CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in script loading and caching. The site integrates multiple external domains for content and resources, reflecting a complex but well-managed infrastructure. Technical risks include reliance on multiple third-party scripts and lack of visible security headers.
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