diff --git a/guarddog_nexus/core/llm.py b/guarddog_nexus/core/llm.py
index 39ef08c..2a58b20 100644
--- a/guarddog_nexus/core/llm.py
+++ b/guarddog_nexus/core/llm.py
@@ -14,6 +14,22 @@ from ..logging_setup import log
 
 _llm_semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(config.llm_max_concurrent)
 
+_REPORT_DEFAULTS = {
+    "verdict": "unknown",
+    "summary": "No summary provided",
+    "analysis": "No analysis provided",
+    "severity_rating": "unknown",
+}
+
+
+def _validate_report(report: dict) -> dict:
+    for field, default in _REPORT_DEFAULTS.items():
+        if not report.get(field):
+            report[field] = default
+    if report["verdict"] not in ("safe", "suspicious", "malicious", "unknown"):
+        report["verdict"] = "unknown"
+    return report
+
 
 def _build_user_message(finding: dict) -> str:
     """Build a concise prompt from a finding's data."""
@@ -78,7 +94,8 @@ async def _attempt_llm_call(finding_data: dict) -> dict | None:
         content = message.get("content", "")
         if not content:
             raise ValueError("Empty message content")
-        return json.loads(content)
+        parsed = json.loads(content)
+        return _validate_report(parsed)
     except (ValueError, json.JSONDecodeError) as e:
         raw = ""
         try:
@@ -94,7 +111,7 @@ async def _attempt_llm_call(finding_data: dict) -> dict | None:
                 stripped = raw.strip().strip("`").strip()
                 if stripped.startswith("json\n"):
                     stripped = stripped[5:]
-                return json.loads(stripped)
+                return _validate_report(json.loads(stripped))
             except json.JSONDecodeError:
                 pass
         log.warning(
diff --git a/guarddog_nexus/main.py b/guarddog_nexus/main.py
index a5dd8b4..2ff67b6 100644
--- a/guarddog_nexus/main.py
+++ b/guarddog_nexus/main.py
@@ -85,6 +85,17 @@ class RequestLoggingMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
         return response
 
 
+class SecurityHeadersMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
+    async def dispatch(self, request: Request, call_next):
+        response = await call_next(request)
+        response.headers["X-Content-Type-Options"] = "nosniff"
+        response.headers["X-Frame-Options"] = "DENY"
+        response.headers["X-XSS-Protection"] = "1; mode=block"
+        response.headers["Referrer-Policy"] = "no-referrer"
+        response.headers["Permissions-Policy"] = "geolocation=(), microphone=()"
+        return response
+
+
 app = FastAPI(
     title=APP_NAME,
     version=APP_VERSION,
@@ -92,6 +103,7 @@ app = FastAPI(
     lifespan=lifespan,
 )
 app.add_middleware(LangMiddleware)
+app.add_middleware(SecurityHeadersMiddleware)
 app.add_middleware(RequestLoggingMiddleware)
 
 
diff --git a/guarddog_nexus/routes/api_scans.py b/guarddog_nexus/routes/api_scans.py
index 980ef9f..7830ab9 100644
--- a/guarddog_nexus/routes/api_scans.py
+++ b/guarddog_nexus/routes/api_scans.py
@@ -136,15 +136,16 @@ async def export_scans_csv(
 @router.get("/stats", response_model=StatsResponse)
 async def scan_stats(session: AsyncSession = Depends(get_session)) -> dict:
     dashboard = await get_dashboard_stats(session)
+    latest = dashboard["latest_flagged"]
     return {
         "total_scans": dashboard["total_scans"],
         "flagged_scans": dashboard["flagged_scans"],
         "recent_flagged": dashboard["recent_flagged"],
         "total_findings": dashboard["total_findings"],
         "top_rules": dashboard["top_rules"],
-        "latest_scan_at": dashboard["latest_flagged"][0].started_at.isoformat()
-        if dashboard["latest_flagged"] and dashboard["latest_flagged"][0].started_at
-        else None,
+        "latest_scan_at": (
+            latest[0].started_at.isoformat() if latest and latest[0].started_at else None
+        ),
     }