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Is scotland.gov.uk a Scam? Security Check Results - The Scottish Government

scotland.gov.uk Security Report Summary

scotland.gov.uk received a security score of 81 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Safe". This report covers The Scottish Government's website security posture. The Scottish Government operates in the Government industry in United Kingdom.

The Scottish Government website serves as the official digital presence for the devolved government of Scotland, providing comprehensive information on policies, news, publications, consultations, and statistics. It targets residents, stakeholders, and the general public interested in Scottish governance and public services. The site is authoritative and well-positioned as a primary source of government information. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, and Plausible Analytics, with a strong emphasis on accessibility, mobile optimization, and SEO best practices. The site is well-structured with clear navigation and uses structured data to enhance search engine understanding. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements cookie consent mechanisms, though explicit security headers are not evident in the provided data. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The WHOIS data is privacy protected, which is typical and justified for government domains, and the domain is highly legitimate based on trust signals and domain usage. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, security, and compliance, making it a trustworthy and reliable source for its audience.

The security scan identified 19 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Plausible Analytics, SVG icons, Google Fonts (Roboto), Font Awesome.

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 scotland.gov.uk Safe? Security Analysis for The Scottish Government

https://scotland.gov.uk

Check if scotland.gov.uk is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

GovernmentUnited Kingdomenterprise
JavaScriptGoogle Tag ManagerPlausible AnalyticsSVG iconsGoogle Fonts (Roboto)+1 more
Analyzed 10/17/2025Completed 2:10:09 PM6mo ago
81
Security Score
LOW RISK

Above Government avg (70)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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Domainscotland.gov.uk
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AI Summary

The Scottish Government website serves as the official digital presence for the devolved government of Scotland, providing comprehensive information on policies, news, publications, consultations, and statistics. It targets residents, stakeholders, and the general public interested in Scottish governance and public services. The site is authoritative and well-positioned as a primary source of government information. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, and Plausible Analytics, with a strong emphasis on accessibility, mobile optimization, and SEO best practices. The site is well-structured with clear navigation and uses structured data to enhance search engine understanding. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements cookie consent mechanisms, though explicit security headers are not evident in the provided data. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The WHOIS data is privacy protected, which is typical and justified for government domains, and the domain is highly legitimate based on trust signals and domain usage. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, security, and compliance, making it a trustworthy and reliable source for its audience.

Detected Technologies

JavaScriptGoogle Tag ManagerPlausible AnalyticsSVG iconsGoogle Fonts (Roboto)Font Awesome

4 urgent findings need attention

4 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

2 findings

90/100

GDPR Compliance

2 findings

83/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

3 findings

85/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The Scottish Government operates as a public sector entity with a broad mandate covering economy, education, health, justice, environment, and more. Its business model is focused on public service delivery and policy implementation rather than commercial revenue generation. The website supports transparency and public engagement through publications, consultations, and news updates. The government maintains a strong partnership ecosystem evident from linked domains such as consultation and blog platforms. The site’s enterprise scale and authoritative position in the government sector underscore its strategic importance and operational maturity.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS usage and cookie consent mechanisms aligned with privacy regulations. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content Security Policy and HSTS suggests room for improvement. The lack of a dedicated security policy or vulnerability disclosure page limits transparency in incident response readiness. The WHOIS privacy protection is appropriate and does not raise suspicion. Overall, the site maintains good security hygiene but could enhance its defenses and communication regarding security practices.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and publish explicit security headers such as CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to strengthen browser security.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

The Scottish Government

Description:

The devolved government for Scotland with responsibilities including economy, education, health, justice, rural affairs, housing, environment, equal opportunities, consumer advocacy and advice, transport and taxation.

Key Services:
Policy informationPublicationsNews updatesConsultationsStatistics and researchPublic engagement
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
JavaScriptGoogle Tag ManagerPlausible AnalyticsSVG iconsGoogle Fonts (Roboto)Font Awesome
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

excellent

SEO:

excellent

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by canonical and og:url https)
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure external scripts

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Plausible AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Plausible Analytics
Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Official Scottish Government website with comprehensive content and services.

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

90/100
Score

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "no-referrer, strict-origin-when-cross-origin"

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

83/100
Score

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

17/100
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

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📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

85/100
Score

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:_u.gov.scot._spf.smart.ondmarc.com ~all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k2(1416-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Subdomain Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:0a819833@inbox.ondmarc.com
Forensic Reports:0a819833@inbox.ondmarc.com

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

100/100
Score

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:www.gov.scot
Issuer:Amazon RSA 2048 M02
Valid Until:8/18/2026 (305 days)
SANs:www.gov.scot

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

85/100
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 Registration Details

Domain Age
10 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
medium(expired)
Protection Level
strongDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:76.223.17.44, 13.248.154.230
Name Servers:
ns0.ja.net
ns2.ja.net
ns3.ja.net
ns4.ja.net
MX Records:
10: gw000222-eu.fortimail.com
SOA:Serial: 2025100160, TTL: 14400s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:145ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_u.gov.scot._spf.smart.ondmarc.com ~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 scotland.gov.uk compare?

See how scotland.gov.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 uses a modern and well-maintained technology stack including JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, and Plausible Analytics for tracking. It leverages Google Fonts and Font Awesome for UI consistency and iconography. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with semantic HTML and ARIA attributes. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content and external dependencies. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting details are not disclosed. The site’s technical implementation supports a professional and user-friendly experience but could benefit from enhanced security headers and performance tuning.
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Marketing Intelligence

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Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainscotland.gov.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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