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Is ukri.org a Scam? Security Check Results - UK Research and Innovation Reviews

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Is ukri.org Safe? Security Analysis for UK Research and Innovation

Check if ukri.org is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

GovernmentUnited Kingdomenterprise
WordPressGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsSiteimprove AnalyticsHotjar+1 more
Analyzed 10/3/2025Completed 4:05:52 PM
71
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a UK government organization responsible for investing approximately £8 billion annually into research and innovation across diverse fields such as biodiversity, quantum computing, space telescopes, and healthcare. The organization operates as a national authority, supporting researchers, innovators, and institutions to foster technological advancement and economic growth. The website reflects a mature digital presence with a professional design, clear navigation, and comprehensive content tailored to its target audience of researchers, academics, and government stakeholders. Technically, the website is built on WordPress CMS, leveraging modern analytics tools including Google Analytics, Siteimprove Analytics, and Hotjar, alongside a robust cookie consent mechanism. The site employs the GOV.UK design system, ensuring excellent accessibility and mobile optimization. Performance is fast, and SEO practices are well implemented, contributing to a high-quality user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements cookie consent controls, though explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options are not evident in the HTML source. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contact is noted as an area for improvement. Overall, UKRI's website demonstrates a strong security posture, high business credibility, and compliance with privacy regulations including GDPR. The lack of WHOIS data is attributed to privacy protection, which is justified for a government entity. The site is trustworthy, professional, and safe for general audiences.

Detected Technologies

WordPressGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsSiteimprove AnalyticsHotjarCivic Cookie Control

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

UKRI holds a dominant position as the UK's government-funded research and innovation investment body. Its business model centers on allocating public funds to support scientific research, innovation projects, and career development initiatives. The organization targets academic institutions, researchers, innovators, and public sector stakeholders. UKRI's extensive partnership ecosystem includes its nine councils and various government departments. The website content and structure indicate a focus on transparency, public engagement, and collaboration facilitation. Growth indicators include active funding calls, news updates, and strategic initiatives. The digital presence supports UKRI's mission to transform research and innovation across the UK, maintaining a high level of professionalism and trust.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR requirements. Security best practices such as avoiding exposed sensitive data and using reputable analytics tools are observed. However, the absence of explicit security headers in the HTML source and lack of a published security policy or incident response contact represent potential gaps. No vulnerabilities or suspicious activities were detected. The WHOIS data is privacy protected, which is appropriate for a government entity. Recommendations include implementing additional security headers, publishing a security policy, and establishing clear incident response channels to enhance security maturity further.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and verify HTTP security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate clickjacking and MIME sniffing risks.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

UK Research and Innovation

Description:

UKRI invests £8 billion of taxpayers’ money each year into research and innovation across a wide range of fields, working nationally and globally to create, develop and deploy new ideas and technologies.

Key Services:
Research fundingInnovation supportCareer developmentPublic engagementCollaboration facilitation
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
WordPressGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsSiteimprove AnalyticsHotjarCivic Cookie Control
Frameworks:
GOV.UK Design System
Platforms:
WordPress CMS
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

excellent

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsSiteimprove AnalyticsHotjar
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Siteimprove AnalyticsHotjar
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

Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

55/100
Score

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

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

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

80/100
Score

Complex SPF record

LOW

Too many include statements can cause lookup limits

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:servers.mcsv.net include:spf.ecase.co.uk include:aspmx.pardot.com include:_spf.psm.knowbe4.com include:_spf.salesforce.com ip4:5.61.115.80/28 ip4:5.61.115.96/28 ip4:149.155.52.15 ip4:149.155.52.3 ip4:168.245.56.120 ip4:52.151.125.124 -all
DNS Lookups:6/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:selector1(1296-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:quarantine
Aggregate Reports:dmarc-aggregate@ukri.org
Forensic Reports:dmarc-failure@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 67 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

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

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
15 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
none(990 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:149.155.59.247
Name Servers:
ns0.nerc-keyworth.ac.uk
ns2.ja.net
ns3.ja.net
unixa.nerc-swindon.ac.uk
MX Records:
2: ukri-org.mail.protection.outlook.com

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:servers.mcsv.net include:spf.ecase.co.uk include:aspmx.pardot.com include:_spf.psm.knowbe4.com include:_spf.salesforce.com ip4:5.61.115.80/28 ip4:5.61.115.96/28 ip4:149.155.52.15 ip4:149.155.52.3 ip4:168.245.56.120 ip4:52.151.125.124 -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

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform, utilizing the GOV.UK design system for consistent branding and accessibility. It integrates multiple analytics services including Google Analytics, Siteimprove Analytics, and Hotjar, managed via Google Tag Manager. The site employs a cookie control tool from Civic Computing to manage user consent. Performance is optimized with fast loading times and responsive design for mobile devices. The technical implementation follows modern web standards with valid HTML and CSS. Opportunities exist to improve security header implementation and to publish additional security documentation. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust, user-friendly, and compliant digital presence.
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