guardiansaints

Stay Safe Online: How Regular Software Updates Protect Your Data

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:44:36 GMT

The sheer joy of delaying the dreaded chore of updating your device(s)

‘Remind me Tomorrow’, the three most appealing words for any master procrastinator. The rush of serotonin you get from postponing the dreadful and inconvenient task of updating your machine for what appears to be an insignificant and unnecessary reason. Why would I update for the purpose of a ‘minor bug fix’ when I can’t get any new emoji or a better user interface?

The answer to this is relatively simple. Security.

These incessant reminders to update the software of your devices, regardless of how insignificant this update may seem, are vital to the security of your data. Therefore, the maximum 30 minutes out of your day that you take to update your software can save you hours of time in the future which could be spent changing passwords and phoning your banks. Which would you prefer?

How can I make sure my devices are up to date?

As Microsoft and iOS/MacOS have built in malware prevention, it is vital to keep your devices up to date to ensure your data is best protected. It is so easy to click the infamous ‘Remind me Tomorrow’ and keep doing this until your machine forces you to update. However, this is the prime window for your data to be compromised.

For Android:

Go to Settings > Scroll to Software Update > Download and Install

For Windows:

Go to Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates

For MacOS:

Go to System Settings > General > Software Update

For iOS:

Go to Settings > General > Software Update …. it really is that simple!

Are fostering providers safe from cyber attacks?

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 16:00:53 GMT

Free Guardian Saints seminar - Learn about the benefits of having a strong cyber security system in place and how this prevents potential threats to your fostering agency

Are fostering agencies safe from cyber attacks? The most straightforward answer to the question is: it depends.

Looking at the cyber landscape and the reliance fostering providers have on technology mixed in with the volume of Special Categories of Personal Information they control and process, as we often say – it’s complicated! Without adequate protection, your company could be more susceptible to hacking, ransomware, invoice fraud, data theft and more.

In this session we will look at the unique and complex challenge that fostering providers face, breaking it down into both technical and organisational controls. We will then examine this against the criteria set by the Cyber Essentials scheme developed by the government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and their partner IASME’s Cyber Assurance standards.

For example, Cyber Essentials measures five technical control themes:

Firewalls
Secure configuration
Security update management
User access control
Malware protection

For those still unsure whether they are ready for Cyber Essentials, we will also look at the new Cyber Advisor scheme, how this can support preparation for Cyber Essentials, providing an overall gap analysis of the systems as currently implemented.

At the end of the session, you should be able to answer the question; 'Is OUR fostering service safe from cyber attacks?'

Reducing the risk of data breaches when transferring and sharing data

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 12:42:06 GMT

Fostering Providers, join us on the 19th April 2023, to explore the key concepts to help fostering agencies make the right decisions when transferring or processing information

Fostering Providers are both Data Controllers and Data Processors. The UK GDPR and Data Protection Act define specific accountabilities upon both controllers and processors, it is important to understand what these accountabilities are. In our new online seminar, we will look at the requirement to implement technical controls to protect personal information in the context of data transfers.

Article 32 (1) of the GDPR states “… the controller and the processor shall implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk…”

In itself, this is helpful in that it is clear that controllers and processors of personal information must protect data using technical and organisational measures. It is less useful in that although suggesting some of these measures, it uses the Latin inter alia, which means ‘among other things’.

So where does that leave fostering providers bearing in mind that Article 32 (1.d) states that controllers and processors must also initiate “… a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of technical and organisational measures for ensuring the security of the processing…”.

One of the most risky activities providers undertake with the personal information that they guard so preciously is transferring data. Whether agencies manage internal or external transfers, a failure to do so securely is a breach of the UK GDPR.

In order to implement and assess these measures requires a basic understanding of information security controls.

To help providers make informed decisions, the NAFP will host a Guardian Saints online seminar to explore the different types of data transfer, which transfers are already protected, how technical controls work and how you can assess them.

The session seeks to explain complex subjects in layman’s terms to enable providers to make informed decisions. If you are interested please register your attendance by clicking the button below.

FOSTERING SERVICES - JOIN US AND SUPPORT SAFER INTERNET DAY 2023

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 15:54:36 GMT

Guardian Saints are Supporting Safer Internet Day 7th February 2023

As in previous years Guardian Saints will be supporting Safer Internet Day and highlighting online safety issues for young people in care. We encourage all Fostering Services to sign up as supporters also, please join us and register here .

Over the years we have gathered views and concerns from both young people and foster carers relating to the issues around online safety. This year we will be replaying some of what we have learned and asking the BIG QUESTION......HAVE THINGS GOT BETTER?

For more information about Guardian Saints and their Services, please contact them on: 020 8300 3878 or email: info@guardiansaints.com

Cyber Essentials Charity Fortnight

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 16:17:11 GMT

Charity Cyber-Essentials Awareness Fortnight-7-18th November 2022

Help to protect Charities from Cyber Attack

Charities are sitting on a data treasure trove. Valuable information on beneficiaries, supporters and volunteers as well as invoice and payment details can be sold by cyber criminals and used to identify other targets.

In the present digital, post-COVID age, trust and cybersecurity are interwoven. By achieving Cyber Essentials, a charity can demonstrate commitment to cyber security and protection of customer data. Charity Cyber EssentialsAwareness Fortnight is about raising the profile of CyberEssentials to charities and supporting them with guidanceto help them through their journey to certification.ons.

Ensuring charities are cyber secure is now more important than ever before. Featuring high on the target list for cyber criminals across the world due to the wide range of funds, personal, financial and commercial data they hold, their duty of care towards the information they safeguard Is now under phenomenal strain.

About the Campaign

Between the 8th and the 17th of November 2022, IASME will be working closely with the NCSC, partners and Certification Bodies to educate charities about the cyber threat they face and to inform them about the benefits of Cyber Essentials. A package of support, advice and guidance will be offered to charities, along with a discount to the price of Cyber Essentials certification for registered charities to help them achieve Cyber Essentials.

Online Safety Training - Young People In Care

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:19:30 GMT

Looking forward to collaborating with Eastern Fostering Services to deliver our first Online Safety awareness training for young people in care

With Online Safety in the news recently after the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Molly Russell, it is crucial that we prepare and inform young people how to stay safe online.

Guardian Saints was founded in 2014 to provide Online Safety advice and guidance to the foster carer community, helping inde pendent fostering agencies ensure their carers are kept up to date with current online harms.

Working with Eastern Fostering Services, we will deliver our first session direct to the young peop le in their care on 28 ^th October 2022 .

Online services have become an integral and necessary part of our lives creating positive experiences for all of us most of the time. As with all aspects of life, we need our young people to be aware of potential risks to their safety and what to do if they feel uncomfortable with any online interactions or experiences they encounter.

Our session is geared toward engaging participative activities to help young people to think about their online lives and how to manage difficult situations and, importantly, how to think about the benefits of privacy settings.

Every Online Safety training course we provide is tailored to the needs of the agency we work with and the audience to whom we deliver. We look forward to working with EFS and their young people.

To find out more about our online safety training or our other services please contact us.

Our next years training booking is open from February 2023

Beginners guide to GDPR and Cyber Security Seminar

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 09:20:17 GMT

Explore the importance of cyber security and data protection within the fostering sector

Agency Directors, Partners and Trustees have accountability for Cyber Security and Data Protection. This is a significant responsibility, as the fostering sector, perhaps more than any other, controls and processes a large amount of personal and special categories of personal information.

Understandably agencies will focus on their core safeguarding principles - providing safe and caring homes for vulnerable young people; consequently cyber and data issues maybe assumed to be adequate as someone else is responsible for them.

What happens when there’s a data breach, a subject access request going back 20 years, a ransomware attack or a complaint from a data subject (e.g. a carer or an employee)?

Would your senior management team know what questions to ask?

Guardian Saints recently ran seminars looking at Cyber Essentials certification requirements and one of our key takeaways was that some attendees had a significant knowledge gap in cyber security and data protection basics.

No one knows everything, and no one can be expected to be an expert in fields outside their experience, but when running a business that relies on data and supporting technologies, it pays to have a basic understanding of the technology risks your agency faces.

Aimed at all levels, Guardian Saints in association with NAFP are hosting a new seminar on 18th October to help admin staff, compliance officers, senior managers and directors understand cyber security basics, but we need your help. We don’t know what you don’t know! So if you need to know what a router does, why strong passwords are important, what MFA means or why you keep having to update your pc and your phone – then join our jargon busting seminar and find out.

To make sure we hit the right note, we have provided a very short survey so that we can understand the needs of interested agencies, please take a few moments to complete the form and tell what you would like us to cover. https://forms.office.com/r/ns4jYaDAF5

Guardian Saints Rebranding – An Evolution

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 06:34:37 GMT

Announcing our fresh new look!

Those of you who have been associated with Guardian Saints since we began back in 2104 will be familiar with our logo of 4 saintly folk promising to keep you safe online.

The origin of the logo dates back to when the core focus of Guardian Saints was to provide Online Safety Training for foster carers and social workers, but much has changed over the years.

As our service offerings for Data Protection and Cyber Security have taken a prominent role in our itinerary, it felt the right time to evolve our visual presence along with the services we provide.

Our amazing Graphic Designer, Tom, took on the task of bringing some of our core themes into a clean and modern look. Most of our clients and other friends refer to us as ‘GS’, so this simplification worked well for us. Tom broadened this out to include our protective Halo and more consistent colour themes.

Although we have spent some time over the rebrand; making choices, discussing visuals and taking an internal vote, our core consideration is to provide the highest level of support to our clients and to continue building on our devotion to the Fostering sector.

We hope you like our new branding, but if you find yourself pining for the good old Guardian Saints logo, we will still use it in our Online Safety training materials, so be sure to book in and reserve our next available slot.

Should we be worried about some of the Apps young people in care are using?

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 13:26:21 GMT

Survey conducted by Guardian Saints 2021

Guardian Saints work with organisations and individuals responsible for safeguarding young people in care. We help them build robust policy and practices for data protection and online safety.

As part of the work we did to support Safer Internet Day this year, we collected information about how young people in care used the internet, what they liked and disliked and what worried them about using it. This report presents a summary of what they told us.

Context

Young people in care are widely considered the most vulnerable in our society today. These young people are taken into care, not because they have done anything wrong, rather that they have been harmed or are at risk of being harmed. Based on the most recently available statistics, there were just over 80,000 ( stats ref: ) young people in care, 65% ( stats ref : ) of whom were taken into care because they had suffered abuse or neglect. In fact, 99% ( stats ref: ) of all young people are taken into care for reasons over which they had no control.

Young people in general, but specifically those in care, rely on adults to keep them safe, both ‘offline’ and ‘online’ – so may assume that is being done on the technology and applications to which they have access. Some adults may deny access to all, out of fear, lack of knowledge and the simple desire to ensure that the risk of harm is greatly reduced. However, this may then deny young people the opportunity to learn and gain knowledge.

They need to be able to discuss the issues and build resilience to ensure they have a positive and inclusive digital experience. Young people need to know how to keep themselves safe - also what to do and who to speak to if they are concerned about something they have experienced Online. We spend much of our time training adults how to keep young people safe, comments given as part of our survey response indicate they want to be safe – so let’s teach them. The implementation of the DofE non statutory guidance ‘Teaching Online Safety in School’, which signposts the framework set out by the UK Council for Internet Safety in ‘Education for a Connected World’ is a positive step. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ‘Childrens Code’ - with privacy settings being set to ‘high’ is significant. The adoption of General Comment 25 and the implementation of the Online Harms Bill move us further toward ensuring young people are kept safe Online.

For young people, knowing where to go when things go wrong and making sure that negative influences on the internet do not have negative impacts on their offline lives is vital.

So what did we learn from the young people who answered our questions?

What apps that might be considered of concern do they use?

We asked about the use of apps/sites where concern has been expressed with regard to their use by young people. Most respondents indicated that they never used them. The key exception here was Roblox. Roblox has been reported in the past as a platform that is unsafe for young people due to predators infiltrating the game. Foster Carers should familiarise themselves with the parental and privacy controls available, if they are to permit young people access.

Do you use or have ever used any of the following sites/apps?

What age were the young people who took part?

To learn more click the button below to download the full report

Guardian Saint is a not for profit organisation.

Our Mission is to better equip foster carers, parents and social care professionals with the tools, skills and knowledge to support children and young people to enjoy a positive online experience in our ever-evolving digital world.

Please see the services we offer to help and support those who care for and protect young people in care.

What young people in care told us about the internet and how they use it

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 15:18:43 GMT

Survey conducted by Guardian Saints 2021

Guardian Saints work with organisations and individuals responsible for safeguarding young people in care. We help them build robust policy and practices for data protection and online safety.

Context

For young people, knowing where to go when things go wrong and making sure that negative influences on the internet do not have negative impacts on their offline lives is vital.

So what did we learn from the young people who answered our questions?

What social media apps/sites did they tell us they used?

What age were the young people who took part?

To learn more click the button below to download the full report

Guardian Saint is a not for profit organisation.

Please see the services we offer to help and support those who care for and protect young people in care.

Guardian Saints Safer Internet Day 2021 - Prize Draw Winners

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 22:04:35 GMT

Thank you all for joining Guardian Saints in supporting Safer Internet Day and participating in our prize draw

Guardian Saints would like to thank all of the organisations and individuals who have helped us Support Safer Internet Day again this Year by promoting our Safer Internet Day Prize Draw. We are proud to be one of the 1700 organisations who were listed as supporters this year .

Over 2,100 organisations across the UK delivered activities for the day, including schools, police forces, government, companies, football clubs, charities and others. If you are one of the organisations that's facilitated participation in our prize draw there is still time to register as a supporter – you can simply say ‘ We promoted the Guardian Saints Safer Internet Day Prize Draw’ – to fill in the supporters form just ‘click here’

Thanks to all the Fostering Social Workers and young people in care who have participated in Guardian Saints' prize draw.

We are pleased to announce the winners, please watch our recording of the winners being selected by the wheel of fortune!

Young People In Care's Prize Draw - Wheel of Fortune!

Social Workers' Prize Draw - Wheel of Fortune!

We have contacted the Fostering Social Worker winners directly and the relevant fostering services to inform them which of their young people has won a prize.

The lucky winners of the Y oung People in Care's Prize Draw will receive their prize in Amazon Vouchers and are from:

Time Out Fostering - 1st prize £150 - Feedback from James- ‘I am amazed and shocked to win this prize, I am going to spend it on something special’

Dudley MBC - well done Bailey! - 2nd prize £100

Bolton Council - 3rd prize £50

The lucky winners of the Fostering Social Workers Prize Draw will receive their prize in Amazon Vouchers and they work with the following fostering services:

Unity Foster Care – 1st prize £150

Lincolnshire County Council – 2nd prize £100

Brighter Futures for Children – 3rd prize £50

Guardian Saints work exclusively with organisations and individuals (fostering services and foster Carers) who are responsible for safeguarding young people in care. We help them build robust policy and practice with regard to data protection and online safety.

With the exponential increase in the use of the internet for both business and social activities set to continue, now, more than ever, it is vital that we ensure that young people in care are adequately protected. As part of the prize draws we asked participants to answer a few brief questions about how they use the internet, their views, experiences and any issues that concern them. We will use the responses provided to push for changes to make the internet a safer place for all young people to use.

Once again we thank you for your continued commitment to our services and helping us make the internet a safer place for Young People .

Statement from our winners:

To read Guardian Saints research report published for Safer Internet Day 2020, click here .

Calling all Young People in Care - enter the prize draw and complete our survey to support Safer Internet Day 2021

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 20:32:14 GMT

Join us and help to make the internet a safer place for young people in care

Guardian Saints is a community interest company that works exclusively with organisations and individuals responsible for safeguarding young people in care, providing a range of services to help them establish robust policy and practice for Data Protection, Cyber Security and Online Safety.

Guardian Saints do lobby Government, Internet Service providers and other relevant organisations to more adequately protect young people from harm.

To support and promote Safer Internet Day in 2021, we are once again running a prize draw.

The prizes are Amazon Vouchers to the value of:

1st Prize £150

2nd Prize £100

3rd Prize £50

Prize Sponsors

To enter the draw, you will need to answer a few questions which ask about how you use the internet, what you like about it and what you don’t like about it.

All responses are entirely confidential; no personal identifiable information is being sought or collected. The answers you give will help us tell others what changes need to be made for the internet to be a better and safer place for all young people.

If you are a Young Person in Care you can access the survey instantly by using your smart device camera on this QR code

You can also take the survey by clicking the icon below:

The draw will take place during the weekend of 13th/14th February . The winning numbers will be published on our website during the week commencing 15th February and we will be contacting the relevant Fostering Service to inform them.

Please read the instructions and Terms and Conditions detailed on the survey entry form before completing the questions (also set out below):

Good Luck! :)

Instructions

YOU MUST BE AGE 7 OR ABOVE TO TAKE PART IN THE PRIZE DRAW.

1. Your answers will help us understand how you use the internet, what you like about it, what you dislike about it and if there is anything that worries you about using it and who you would talk to if you had any worries. You will be asked a number of questions. All questions must be answered for your entry to be valid. Please answer the questions as fully and honestly as possible.

2. All individual responses will be kept entirely confidential.

3. Question 1 must be answered so we can make sure you receive your prize if your number is drawn, we will contact either the Local Authority or Fostering Service that your carer works for to arrange for you to receive your prize.

4. We will use what you tell us to help make changes that will make the internet a safer and better place for children and young people to enjoy.

5. When you have completed the entry form, click on the finish button. You will be taken to 'Thank you' page, this will show your prize draw entry number. Please ensure you print the prize draw entry number or save this and keep it safe.

6. If you start the questions but don't have time to finish, you can:

Leave the entry form and start again another time
Choose 'Save and Continue' - the system will automatically send you a reminder email with a link, so you can carry on where you left off. You will be asked to provide a Name and an email address. DO NOT GIVE YOUR FULL NAME, You can use your first name or a nickname but a single letter will work. Give the email address that you want the reminder sent to. The system does not keep this information, just uses it to send the email.

Terms and Conditions:

To enter you must be a young person in care.
You must be age 7 or above to take part in the prize draw.
We reserve the right to exclude multiple entries or any that use inappropriate language.
All questions must be answered, and information completed fully for your entry to be valid. We reserve the right to reject invalid entries.
The decision of the organiser/judges is final
Members of Guardian Saints and/or their families will not be eligible to enter.

If you require further information or have any questions regarding the prize draw or survey please email us at: keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com

Foster Carers & Parents – Your help is needed to reimagine Online/Digital Fun For Children

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 14:01:37 GMT

Get involved and take part in the development of current and new digital play settings.

To Register and take part click here . (Please note the information entered will be submitted directly to a member of the Digital Futures Commission’s team, who will be in contact shortly. Please see Privacy Notice )

Further details are given below, or you can email us: info@digitalfuturescommission.org.uk

Guardian Saints have been asked to help encourage Foster Carers and Parents to take part in research to ensure that child safety does not become an afterthought in the development of current and new digital play settings.

As part of this they are seeking to ensure that child safety is a key factor in the development and delivery of all applications that support play in the online world.

This work is being undertaken by the Digital Futures Commission and is one of a number of projects in association with the 5Rights Foundation.

The consultation provides an unprecedented opportunity for those caring for or working with children as well as young people themselves to have a say on the changes they want to see so that play could be designed with safety built in for children and young people in our ever expanding online/digital world.

The aim of the consultation is to engage parents/carers and professionals working with children in re-imagining play in the digital world. For full details of the research aims click here

If you wish to take part you can register no w (Please note the information entered will be submitted directly to a member of the Digital Futures Commission’s team, who will be in contact shortly. Please see Privacy Notice ) or read the additional details below before doing so.

FAQs and Facts

So, what is digital play?

This is play or playful activity using digital/computer technology. This can be as simple as mobile games or applications (educational or otherwise) or as creative as playing charades or hide and seek using things like Zoom or Facetime.

Do I need to be computer literate to take part?

Does it matter what age my children are?

Ideally, your children should be under 18 years of age. However, if you are a foster carer and have recent experience of caring for children in this age range, we would still value your help.

What does this involve and how much time will it take?

Small discussion groups will be held via Zoom. Each group discussion will take about 45 minutes. The discussions will have a serious purpose, but they will also be fun! You will be asked some questions and take part in some interesting activities. Time will be allowed so your suggestions on what should be improved can be heard.

We will send you some information and record your consent to participate in this consultation. Other than that, there is nothing to prepare.

Will I be able to take part at a time convenient to me or is there a set time?

The main sessions are being held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10am or 6pm.

We will try to arrange additional sessions for 2pm and 4pm & 7pm, if these do not fit with you schedule.

(Please note the information entered will be submitted directly to a member of the Digital Futures Commission’s team, who will be in contact shortly. Please see P rivacy Notice )

About Digital Futures Commission (DFC)

The Digital Futures Commission is an exciting research collaboration of unique organisations that invites innovators, policy makers, regulators, academics and civil society, to unlock digital innovation in the best interests of children and young people. The work will be informed by the voices of children and underpinned by a research programme and outputs geared toward real world change for children. See www.digitalfuturescommission.org.uk

About 5Rights

5Rights Foundation is a charitable organisation whose mission is to make systemic changes to the digital environment so that it better serves children and young people, by design and by default. This is achievable through advocacy for enforceable regulation and international agreements and development of technical standards and protocols for businesses across four priority areas: design of service, child online protection, children and young people’s rights and data literacy. See: https://5rightsfoundation.com/about-us/ )

Calling all Fostering Social Workers - enter the prize draw and complete our survey to support Safer Internet Day 2021

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 14:22:16 GMT

Join us and help to make the internet a safer place for young people in care

Guardian Saints do lobby Government, Internet Service providers and other relevant organisations to more adequately protect young people from harm.

To support and promote Safer Internet Day in 2021, we are once again running a prize draw. This year’s prize draw is open to social workers and young people in care.

The prizes are Amazon Vouchers to the value of:

1st Prize £150

2nd Prize £100

3rd Prize £50

Prize Sponsors

To enter the draw, participants will need to answer a series of brief questions which ask about how they use the Internet and their views on it's use by young people in care. The responses we receive will help make the Internet a safer and better place for children and young people to enjoy.

If you are a social worker you can access the survey instantly by using your smart device camera on this QR code

You can also take the survey by clicking the icon below:

All responses are entirely confidential; no personal identifiable information is being sought or collected. However, the answers given will help us to support the Fostering Community and raise awareness of the challenges they face in keeping young people safe online.

Please read the instructions and Terms and Conditions detailed on the survey entry form before completing the questions (also set out below):

Good Luck!

Instructions:

1. You will be asked a series of questions. All questions must be answered for your entry to be valid. Please answer the questions as fully and honestly as possible.

2. All individual responses will be kept entirely confidential.

3. Question 2 asks for your name, the name of the Fostering Service you work for (either Independent Fostering Agency or Local Authority) and your email address. You do not have to give your full name (first name, initials or a nickname will suffice) your email address is required to enable us to notify prize winners and will be used specifically for this purpose. All of this information needs to be completed to enable your entry to be validated. All details will be deleted when the winners have been contacted.

4. When you have completed the entry form, click on the finish button. You will be taken to a 'Thank you' page, this will show your prize draw entry number. Please ensure you print the prize draw entry number or save this and keep it safe.

5. If you start the questions but don't have time to finish, you can:

Leave the entry form and start again another time
Choose 'Save and Continue' - the system will automatically send you a reminder email with a link, so you can carry on where you left off. You will be asked to provide a Name and an email address. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GIVE YOUR FULL NAME, First name, initials or a nickname or a single letter will work. Give the email address that you want the reminder sent to. This information is not kept just used to send the email.

Terms and Conditions:

To enter you must be a Social Worker or Supervising Social Worker, working with either a Local Authority or Independent Fostering Service
All sections must be completed fully for your entry to be valid. We reserve the right to reject invalid entries
We reserve the right to exclude multiple entries
The decision of the organiser/judges is final
Members of Guardian Saints and/or their families will not be eligible to enter

If you require further information or have any questions regarding the prize draw or survey please email us at: keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP AS A SUPPORTER OF SAFER INTERNET DAY – WE HAVE!

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 10:41:29 GMT

Save the date Guardian Saints is promoting Safer Internet Day 2021 - join us now!

Guardian Saints are once again, proud to support Safer Internet Day. As in previous years, we will be gathering information from young people in care and those responsible for safeguarding them to understand their views, experiences, and concerns about the online safety impacts in our evolving digital world.

THERE WILL BE PRIZES!!

As in previous years we will be holding a ‘prize draw’ and finding out about the specific issues & challenges faced when keeping young people in care safe online. To enter the prize draw, we will ask a brief series of questions about how the individual uses the internet, their experiences – their likes, dislikes and worries. In previous years we have asked both young people in care for their views as well as Foster Carers – this year we want to ask both young people and social workers. Everyone who responds will be entered into the draw and have the chance of winning Amazon Vouchers of £150, £100 & £50 to spend how they wish.

The draw will be made on Safer Internet Days itself – the 9th of February 2021 – in case you had forgotten!

A report of our findings will be published following the event. So, what have we found out in previous years? A selection of previous responses was published last year – you may be surprised by what some of the young people who took part said….you can get a copy of that report from our website by clicking here

So, please, please, please if you are a fostering service or social worker and you or your young people would like to participate – please get in touch

Not Sure what you or your organisation can do to support Safer Internet Day?

If you want to register as a supporter you need to include how you are going to do that – as a suggestion, if you don’t have the time or resources at the moment, you could simply say…..

‘ we will be participating in the Guardian Saints Prize Draw ’

But please let us know if you are going to do that…..and remember…. THERE ARE PRIZES!

To register as a supporter of SID 2021: https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/2021/register

To contact us if you would like to participate: info@guardiansaints.com

Fostering Services - Why should you have Cyber Essentials Certification?

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 15:35:19 GMT

More and more Local Authorities are looking for this Certification as part of the commissioning process…Why is that?

Background

In a procurement policy note first issued in 2014, The Government mandated that Cyber Essentials Certification (CE) was required for any organisation bidding for central government contracts post October 2014. In a further update issued in 2016 they indicated that other ‘government’ contracting authorities (e.g. in local government and the wider public sector) could choose to adopt this policy, should they so wish.

There is evidence that more Local Authorities are looking for this standard in the commissioning and tender process that Fostering Services will participate in. In several recent tender processes many Fostering Services who could not demonstrate embedded CE practices, faced complications or delay in satisfying the data protection requirements in their contracts.

So, what is Cyber Essentials (CE)?

Cyber Essentials is a straightforward scheme which has been designed to help protect organisations, of any size, against most common Cyber Attacks. Although such attacks can be sophisticated, more often than not they are quite straightforward and carried out by ‘relatively unskilled individuals.’

There are two levels of Certification, these are:

Cyber Essentials – this is the ‘self-assessed’ option, which will offer protection against the most prevalent forms of cyber-attack. Vulnerability to such attacks can make organisations a target for more sophisticated attacks with far reaching consequences. Fostering Services process and hold a significant amount of highly sensitive data, the loss or mishandling of this data could have a significant impact and a long term effect to the data subjects.

Cyber Essential Plus – although this offers the same simplicity of approach as the basic CE – a ‘hands on’ technical verification process is required to attain certification.

What are the benefits of Certification for Fostering Services?

Cyber Essentials Certification will provide your customers, suppliers and business partners (including Foster Carers and Local Authorities) with confidence, as you will have attained the National Cyber Security Centre’s standard of Cyber Security resilience.

More and more government and local authority departments look for Cyber Essentials certification from their suppliers, so it represents a real competitive advantage. Combining this with the IASME Governance Standard, that includes specific GDPR requirements, demonstrates documented and structured processes are in place. This ensures that Data Protection and Cyber Security are embedded in all organisational processes and remain a key business objective for your organisation.

Why work with Guardian Saints?

Guardian Saints are a certification body for the Cyber Essentials scheme. We also operate as Data Protection Officer for a number of fostering services and we specify that they undertake these certification requirements as a condition of our service provision. Guardian Saints specialise in supporting the fostering sector in the areas of online safety, cyber security and data protection. We have a detailed understanding of the operational process and the particular challenges the fostering sector faces, which puts us in a unique position to support these organisations.

No need to take our word for it – please feel free to read what our customers say about us!

Are you GDPR Compliant?

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 16:09:48 GMT

GDPR Gap Analysis - Case Study

February 2020

This organisation is an independent fostering agency whose mission is to provide high quality care placements to children and young people for Local Authorities. To support the complex dynamics of information exchanges that take place in the social care sector, the organisation wanted to ensure that they had robust policies and procedures in place to protect the data they controlled and processed.

Guardian Saints were engaged to undertake a ‘Gap Analysis’ to determine the organisations level of compliance against the requirements of the GDPR 2016 and the DPA 2018.

* As data protection is a sensitive subject the agency wishes to remain anonymous, which we respect.

Challenge

The organisation had conducted an internal review of their Data Protection and Cyber Security position and taken measures towards compliance. However, they felt it was imperative to gain an independent assessment of their position against the regulations.

Having attended Guardian Saints GDPR workshops, the organisation decided to engage in our GDPR Gap Analysis service, which uses recognised standards and methodologies to audit and highlight any further required action. This process can be considered a GDPR ‘Health Check’, which determines an organisation’s level of compliance and identifies appropriate ‘remedies’, should they be needed.

Solution and Services provided by Guardian Saints

Initial assessment to scope and determine requirements

Two days ‘on site’ information gathering, including:

Review of existing documentation and procedures
Conducting interviews with the organisations key personnel
Review and clarification from the organisations perspective

Onsite presentation of the final report to senior stakeholders, detailing actions required to attain full compliance with the regulations

All-staff training session outlining the organisations successes and challenges in Data Protection and Cyber Security awareness

Benefits

An independent review of processes and documentation provides a route to compliance through remediation, resolution and action.

A detailed Gap Analysis supports senior management in aligning resources to ensure the protection of the rights of data subjects including foster carers, young people in care, employees, panel members and third-party suppliers.

Delivers a structured approach to implementation of corrective activity underpinned by a remediation and action plan.

Provides clarity for the organisation, enabling them to effectively manage and control both budgeting and resource requirements.

Outcome

The Gap Analysis demonstrated that this organisation is a proactive fostering agency with many of the areas under scrutiny having been implemented to some degree, as noted below:

Leadership commitment and direction - the Directors of the organisation were found to be fully committed to the protection of the children’s data within their remit.

The organisation has appointed a Data Protection Officer, who has been provided adequate time and budget to ensure the development of their knowledge and understanding of Data Protection.

It is noted that foundational work has taken place. This has been evidenced by a mature framework built on embedded policy and process with signposting through to the DPO for confirmatory guidance. Policy and guidance are cornerstones of compliance with GDPR.

The organisation has ensured that all staff, carers and others which may come into contact or have an impact on personal data, receive regular training that commensurate with their roles. The organisation ensures ongoing awareness training and involvement of staff via quarterly meetings.

A detailed report highlighted risks and process gaps within the organisation alongside determining the action priorities, these included:

A lack of an implemented framework for Information Security. The organisation has requested Guardian Saints to provide a quotation for the implementation and certification of the Cyber Essentials Scheme. As part of this process Guardian Saints provided the organisation with an IT security template to aid in the implementation of IT security best practices.

A review of the policies in place noted that some updates and clarification were required. The organisation has engaged with Guardian Saints to assist in this process.

At the time of the Gap Analysis it was noted that the data mapping process was ongoing, it was recommended that the organisation set a target date for completion.

Whilst it was noted during the Gap Analysis that the organisation had established good Privacy Notice policies, the analysis highlighted that these polices did not fully cover the requirements of Article 13 and 14 of the GDPR. Guardian Saints provided the organisation with the Privacy Notice templates for them to incorporate into their existing policies.

Although access controls were good, there was room for improvement when providing access procedures for external professionals and advisors.

Where Data Protection and Cyber Security controls are in place, the organisation do not have the evidence of standards alignment to assure data subjects, customers and suppliers that information is protected. Guardian Saints’ advice is to gain Cyber Essentials Certification, a Government scheme that ensures security standards are maintained, as referenced in point 2.a. above.

Through this analysis, the risks were identified and an action plan set out providing the organisation with a clear direction and the confidence to address any gaps, thus working towards GDPR compliance and continuous protection of the rights of their data subjects.

The Guardian Saints Team was invited to undertake a GDPR GAP analysis of our organisation in early 2020. This was following some excellent feedback at a training session they put on for NAFP members which two of our staff attended.

Guardian Saints worked closely with us before, during and after the GAP analysis audit, giving clear guidance around what information was needed and the overall process they were going to follow.

After completion of the audit they assisted us in updating our Privacy Notices and Information Security Policy, as well as reassuring us that the safeguards and security put in place by our IT providers was of the high level we expected.

Guardian Saints then presented training to the whole agency around Data Protection and GDPR. This was a really fun and interactive session for everyone, which is quite impressive given the topic! Some of the feedback from our staff group around the training was as follows:

“I was surprised that training on data protection could be delivered in way that was interesting and engaging. It's an easy topic to poke fun at - Guardian Saints did a great job at overcoming preconceptions of 'this is going to be boring' and I came away feeling the session was very worthwhile - and relevant to my role. I was impressed!”

“A very clear presentation of quite a complex topic. Well delivered, relaxed learning environment.”

“Much of the content was a helpful refresh of the knowledge I'd learned on a data protection training package I'd recently completed. It demystified the complexities, and Cemented in my mind/approach a more considered way of thinking about data protection.”

Our advice to others considering engaging Guardian Saints would be that regardless of your size or how sure or unsure you are of your data protection processes, it’s well worth inviting them in to do a GAP analysis. We were really pleased with the coverage of the audit and the support they have provided to improve our practice subsequently has been massively helpful.

Data Protection is really important within the area we operate as the information we handle is so sensitive. Undergoing this audit allows us to demonstrate to all our stakeholders how seriously we take Data Protection and our ongoing commitment to looking after the information of individuals we work with.

Calling all Fostering Social Workers - enter the prize draw and complete our survey to support Safer Internet Day 2021

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Sun, 08 Nov 2020 21:12:04 GMT

Join us and help to make the internet a safer place for young people in care

Guardian Saints do lobby Government, Internet Service providers and other relevant organisations to more adequately protect young people from harm.

To support and promote Safer Internet Day in 2021, we are once again running a prize draw. This year’s prize draw is open to social workers and young people in care.

The prizes are Amazon Vouchers to the value of:

1st Prize £150

2nd Prize £100

3rd Prize £50

Prize Sponsors

If you are a social worker you can access the survey instantly by using your smart device camera on this QR code

You can also take the survey by clicking the icon below:

Please read the instructions and Terms and Conditions detailed on the survey entry form before completing the questions (also set out below):

Good Luck!

There is also opportunity for the Young People you are responsible for to take part and enter the Prize Draw open to them and they can have their say...click this link here to find out more.

Instructions:

1. You will be asked a series of questions. All questions must be answered for your entry to be valid. Please answer the questions as fully and honestly as possible.

2. All individual responses will be kept entirely confidential.

5. If you start the questions but don't have time to finish, you can:

Leave the entry form and start again another time
Choose 'Save and Continue' - the system will automatically send you a reminder email with a link, so you can carry on where you left off. You will be asked to provide a Name and an email address. YOU DO NOT NEED TO GIVE YOUR FULL NAME, First name, initials or a nickname or a single letter will work. Give the email address that you want the reminder sent to. This information is not kept just used to send the email.

Terms and Conditions:

To enter you must be a Social Worker or Supervising Social Worker, working with either a Local Authority or Independent Fostering Service
All sections must be completed fully for your entry to be valid. We reserve the right to reject invalid entries
We reserve the right to exclude multiple entries
The decision of the organiser/judges is final
Members of Guardian Saints and/or their families will not be eligible to enter

If you require further information or have any questions regarding the prize draw or survey please email us at: keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com

Cyber Essentials Discounted Schemes For Charities

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 16:35:49 GMT

Cyber-Security campaign offering help to charities

Following the headline-dominating cyber-attack on Blackbaud earlier this year, the threat charities are under due to vulnerabilities within their organisations have never been more real. With an employee’s increasingly working from home in the midst of the COVID crisis, there is been more reason to implement the right precautions.

With this in mind, The IASME Consortium, the recognised partner for the Government backed Cyber Essentials certification scheme, is launching a week-long campaign in November aimed at encouraging registered charities to improve their resilience to online threats. Alongside their participating licensed partners, The IASME Consortium is offering discounted certifications on two of their schemes, Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance, which will help charities demonstrate that they have effective and recognised best practice and protections in place.

Guardian Saints is an IASME licensed Certification Body based in South of the UK - Surrey, participating in the Cyber-Security campaign. Working with care services and charities, we have seen the benefits that Cyber Essentials brings including peace of mind and confidence in the security of their systems. *

Dr Emma Philpott MBE, CEO of IASME Consortium, speaks of the importance of the #cybersecurecharities campaign, saying that

“ Charities play a key part in our society and, literally, every penny matters! Yet their increasing reliance on technology leaves them vulnerable to everyday cyber threats and puts their mission at risk. This campaign is designed to save third-sector organisations money on their assessments, and the proven measures they will be assessed against will play a key role in helping secure the data and finances that are fundamental to every charity. I'm delighted that so many of our Certification Bodies have joined us in making cyber security accessible to such an important sector. ”

The aforementioned Cyber Essentials scheme assesses against the implementation of simple controls in five core technical areas. Its effectiveness means Cyber Essentials is already a pre-requisite for many government and private sector tenders. The 5 technical controls are anti-malware, access control, patching, secure configuration and firewalls. These are the five key areas identified as those which, had controls been in place, would have prevented the majority of internet born attacks over recent years.

IASME will also be offering its own award-winning governance standard as part of the promotion. IASME Governance, which includes a Cyber Essentials assessment and a GDPR readiness check, is an information security management standard which is more practical and affordable for SMEs than the traditional ISO27001. IASME governance builds on Cyber Essentials covering additional protections such as physical security, data back-ups and staff awareness.

Can a GDPR Gap Analysis and Cyber Essentials Certification be of real benefit to my company?

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 14:28:11 GMT

Fostering Agency Certified - Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance Standard -

Well, it would be easy enough for us to tell you how we can help your company achieve a real competitive advantage by achieving Cyber Essentials certification. We can also extol the virtues of IASME Governance certification and its alignment with the GDPR. Of course, a GDPR compliance Gap Analysis is something we could discuss so that you could see the value of knowing what you already do well and how you might improve your processes further.

These are the core areas of our consultancy business and rather than provide pages describing what we might be able to do for you, we put together some case studies with a few of our clients to let you see how we can help, not just in our own words but enhanced by the views of our clients.

The Case Studies:

Click one of the links above to discover how we can help your business gain that competitive edge.

Fostering Provider Cyber Essentials and IASME certified - Case Study

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 15:26:20 GMT

Following attendance at a Guardian Saints CIC GDPR awareness session, UK Fostering engaged Guardian Saints to provide support and cyber security services to achieve the Cyber Essentials Scheme and the IASME Governance Standard certification.

The benefits of these certifications are that they demonstrate to customers and suppliers that cyber security, data protection and information governance are taken seriously. Indications are that at some point these certifications will be a requirement of public sector organisations contracting with those in the private sector, and can provide a competitive advantage as many SME’s (Small to Medium Enterprises) are discovering. In a number of recent tendering processes with Local Authorities, fostering services who had certification were able to evidence compliance with these standards to support their application.

UK Fostering is a fostering services provider utilised by Local Authorities placing young people in care with suitably matched placements with fostering families. UK Fostering work with Local Authorities in London and the South East, the Midlands, the North West and North East of England. As a function of this they manage a significant amount of sensitive personal information relating to the young people in care, as well as the foster carers they work with, to provide safe homes for vulnerable young people.

Following attendance at a Guardian Saints CIC GDPR awareness session, UK Fostering engaged Guardian Saints to provide support and cyber security services to achieve the Cyber Essentials Scheme and the IASME Governance Standard certification.

The benefits of these certifications are that they demonstrate to customers and suppliers that cyber security, data protection and information governance are taken seriously. Indications are that at some point these certifications will be a requirement of public sector organisations contracting with those in the private sector, and can provide a competitive advantage as many SME’s (Small to Medium Enterprises) are discovering. In a number of recent tendering processes with Local Authorities, fostering services who had certification were able to evidence compliance with these standards to support their application.

Challenge

Initially, Guardian Saints were required to establish UK Fostering’s current level of compliance with the requirements of the Cyber Essentials Scheme and the IASME Governance Standard.

In a consultative role Guardian Saints, working collaboratively with UK Fostering, the service extended beyond a mere ‘tick box exercise’, which ensured that the required standards were embedded into UK Fostering’s every day working practices.

Solution Provided by Guardian Saints

Guardian Saints operated a truly supportive service to UK Fostering, providing a dedicated consultant to ensure that quality and consistency were provided throughout the certification process.

Guardian Saints are an ideally suited partner for the Cyber Essentials qualification as they hold Certification Body status with the National Cyber Security Centre’s Partner, The IASME Consortium. This enables them to consolidate consultation and support through to final certification.

Support Services included:

Pre-assessment review of answers with constructive feedback
Where reasonably practical, translation of technical terms into plain English
Guidance on the implementation of requirements
Provision of template documents including:
DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment)
Data Mapping
Risk Assessment
Review of existing documentation where required

Benefits

The key benefit of gaining certification to the Cyber Essentials Scheme, is that it demonstrates that UK Fostering take data protection seriously and provides assurance to both their clients and foster carers that their data is being protected in line with best practices and requirements of the Government National Cyber Security Centre’s framework.

An added benefit of completing the IASME Governance Standard is that it provides reassurance that UK Fostering has in place documented and structured processes which ensure that Data Protection and Cyber Security are embedded in all organisational processes and continue to remain a key business objective.

Having secured certification for the Cyber Essentials Scheme, UK Fostering has benefited from the cyber insurance cover provided free through IASME’s insurance partner, which provides vital incident response services.

Outcomes

These included:

A more comprehensive understanding of the requirements for Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance by UK Fostering
UK Fostering were awarded certification for both the Cyber Essentials Scheme and the IASME Governance Standard.
A structured and documented set of processes was established to ensure that UK Fostering’s approach to Cyber Security meets best practice guidelines.
A defined measure of confidence for UK Fostering’s management team, which evidences that the organisation has achieved a national standard of compliance

What did UK Fostering have to say about this project?

We were invited to attend training on the subject by Guardian Saints and subsequently were offered the opportunity to seek accreditation through Guardian Saints once it was presented to us. This seemed like a good course of action to take for an organisation that was ready to review and explore every facet of its operation, so we investigated further and signed up with Guardian Saints to assist us through the process.

The assessment was a very smooth and informative process. It was helpful that we had just one consultant who was consistent throughout. We found it helpful to review all aspects of our functioning and identify whether we were compliant or needed to make changes to become compliant. It was not just about seeking accreditation, but ensuring that we operated, as a company in a way that recognised and strived to protect the rights of individuals and their data.

There is no doubt that having Cam with me every step of the way and her calm, professional approach is what took us to a successful execution. She was very helpful in breaking some questions down to the basics so I understood exactly what I was answering and ensuring I answered it in the best way.

Without a doubt we are recommending Guardian Saints. They are very knowledgeable in what they do and provide a friendly, down to earth support service, which most definitely ensures the smooth running and timely execution of the project. We are very pleased to have obtained our accreditation.

Sandra

Business Development Manager

UK Fostering

Renewing your Cyber Essentials and IASME certification - Case Study

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 15:26:17 GMT

Acorn Fostering is a fostering services provider headquartered in Leicester. Local Authorities in need of placing young people in care use Acorn Fostering’s services to find the most appropriate fostering environment to nurture these vulnerable young people. In this activity, Acorn Fostering manage a significant amount of sensitive personal information relating to the young people in care, as well as the foster carers they work with.

The initial certification for Cyber Essentials has proved to be a valuable tool when tendering for Local Authority contracts. More emphasis has been placed on Data Protection in these contracts since the enactment of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018), which put the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into UK law.

Acorn Fostering have a long-standing relationship with Guardian Saints having utilised their online safety training services for a number of years. Consequently, when Acorn Fostering wished to extend their certification to include IASME Governance combined with the annual renewal of Cyber Essentials they had full confidence in Guardian Saints to provide the necessary support.

Acorn Fostering relied upon Guardian Saints sector specific expertise to support them through the certification audit assessment to ensure a successful conclusion.

About - Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance Standard

Cyber Essentials is a UK Government information assurance scheme operated by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The scheme certifies organisations who have implemented good practice with information security. Its aim is to support those organisations to implement basic technical controls providing protection against cyber-attacks, demonstrating to their customers that they take cyber security seriously.

The IASME Governance Standard is particularly suitable for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

The Governance assessment model evaluates against both the Cyber Essentials criteria as well as GDPR compliance requirements. This standard looks at organisation’s governance controls across a number of key areas, including:

Risk assessment
Business continuity
Policies and Procedures
Incident management
Operational management
Data protection

This standard is recognised as an affordable and achievable alternative to the International Standard, ISO27001.

Gaining Cyber Essentials Certification along with IASME Governance, is a simple yet an effective way for organisations to demonstrate their commitment to cyber security and that they take Data Protection regulation seriously.

With cyber threats increasing in both volume and sophistication, Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance demonstrates that a business has introduced proven cyber security and information assurance controls that help protect against a wide range of the most common internet based cyber threats.

Challenge

With an established process to comply with the Cyber Essentials certification requirements, IASME certification requires a more in-depth view of corporate governance, with a stronger emphasis on Data Protection. To achieve successful certifications for both Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance Standard these specific requirements in the Data Protection Act (2018) and the GDPR must be met.

In a consultative role, working collaboratively with Acorn Fostering, Guardian Saints established new working practices, which applied greater emphasis on risk assessment, process controls and monitoring. An in-depth understanding of data lifecycles and the contractual obligations of third parties provided the opportunity to grow Acorn Fostering’s approach to data protection and security into a robust ‘business as usual’ defence strategy.

Solution Provided by Guardian Saints

Following attendance at one of Guardian Saints Data Protection workshops, Guardian Saints were invited to provide Data Protection and Cyber Security Awareness sessions at Acorn’s headquarters in Leicester. Following these, Acorn’s Board of Directors have continued to be diligent, supportive and demonstrate their commitment to maintaining compliance with the data protection law.

Consequently, they sought to add IASME Governance certification to their burgeoning trophy cabinet,. As a consequence, Guardian Saints were required to explore the maturity of current processes i.e. Asset Management, Business Risk Assessment, Business Continuity, Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and procedures to manage the rights of data subjects.

Although some areas were under control, the GDPR required specific activities for compliance. Guardian Saints provided additional in-depth analysis and guidance on various processes e.g., Asset Management, DPIA and the maintenance of the library of template documents to help bring processes into a logical structure. Of course, documents alone cannot protect information, so through diligent consultation, these processes have become embedded within Acorn Fostering’s operational activities.

Guardian Saints are a Certification Body for the National Cyber Security Centre’s Partner, The IASME Consortium. enabling them to consolidate both consultation and support through to final certification of the Cyber Essentials qualification.

Support Services included:

Pre-submission review of assessment responses, alongside provision of constructive feedback.
Where practicably possible, translation of technical terms into ‘Plain English’.
Guidance on the implementation of requirements.
Provision of template documents including:
DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment)
Data Mapping
Risk Assessment
Data Subjects’ Rights
Review of existing documentation where required
Benefits

The key benefit of gaining certification to the Cyber Essentials Scheme, is that it demonstrates that Acorn Fostering take data protection seriously, providing assurance to both their clients and foster carers that their data is being protected in line with best practices alongside the requirements of the Government National Cyber Security Centre standards.

A significant benefit of completing the IASME Governance Standard is that it provides reassurance that Acorn Fostering has in place documented and structured processes, which ensure that Data Protection and Cyber Security are embedded in all organisational processes and continue to remain a key focus in their business objective.

Having secured certification for the Cyber Essentials Scheme, Acorn Fostering has benefited from the cyber insurance cover provided free through IASME’s insurance partner, which provides vital incident response services.

Outcomes

These included:

A more comprehensive understanding of the requirements for Cyber Essentials and IASME Governance by Acorn Fostering, enabling them to continually improve their cyber security and data protection strategies

Acorn Fostering were awarded certification for both the Cyber Essentials Scheme and the IASME Governance Standard.

Establishment of well-structured and documented process set, ensuring that Acorn Fostering have applied the cyber security and data protection best practices to protect them as an organisation as well as the young people in care, carers, staff members and suppliers (their data subjects).

A defined measure of confidence for Acorn Fostering’s management team, which evidences that the organisation has achieved a national standard of compliance.

Demonstrable historic evidence of a continuous quality of service.

It has been a great pleasure to be associated with Guardian Saints. We at Acorn have been working with Guardian Saints for a few years now. Our association started when we used their training expertise for our staff and foster carers in the area of online safety. This led to us attending their workshop on GDPR and subsequently they provided training to our staff team on the provisions of GDPR.

When we wanted to gain Cyber Essential and IASME Certification, we asked for their guidance and this was the best decision we made. They are the experts in the field and we experienced this at every stage of the process. The team is highly knowledgeable, experienced, thorough and approachable. Their assistance has proven to be invaluable. We feel confident in our systems and processes relating to data protection which are embedded in our day to day practice.

We at Acorn feel that we can approach Guardian Saints anytime to seek guidance when in doubt and we are never disappointed.

As said before, it has been a great pleasure to be associated with Guardian Saints.

Kshama S

Director

HR, IT and Policies

Safer Internet Day - 2019 Prize Draw Winners announced

Wed, 13 May 2020 12:46:58 GMT

The prize draw was conducted on the 5th February 2019 in Rotherham, at the ‘Your Child’s Digital World Fostering Conference’organised by the Foster Care Co-Operative (FCC)

1st winner - Capstone Foster Care - £250 Amazon Voucher
2nd winner - Kasper Fostering - £250 Amazon Voucher
3rd winner - Compass Fostering - £50 Amazon Voucher

Read More

Safer Internet Day 2018 Review - What worries young people about the internet.

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 07:43:32 GMT

What worries young people about the internet and how do they think it could be made better

As adults, we make decisions based on what we think is right in terms of online safety for young people. To promote Safer Internet Day 2018, Guardian Saints ran a prize draw open to all young people in care. As part of entering the draw, we thought it would be helpful to seek their views, so we asked them:

Is there anything that worries you or issues you have experienced whilst using the Internet?
If you could improve something about the internet and being online, what would it be and why?

The following text is exactly what the young people, who were a variety of ages, said:

“I feel that it is easy for young people to be contacted by strangers on the internet and some young people in care are vulnerable. I have experienced this and have things in place t o make me safe and it hasn't happened again”

“When I had a You Tube account I kept getting messages from strangers, this worried me so I deleted You Tube.”

‘The fact that pornography is so easily accessible, harmful content in the media that causes low se lf - esteem or hatred towards particular groups and websites that actively encourage harmful behaviour such as self - harming, anorexia or suicide. Also, cyber bullying’.

“People might try to contact you that you don’t want”

“People trying to befriend me when I don't know them and people trying to get me to send pictures of myself to them and them talking inappropriately to me..”

“The thing that worries me is how easy it Is for paedophiles to access children and also how easy it is to be hacked.”

“Predators hiding behind a computer screen and being unaware of who this person is.”

“People have contacted me and I don't know who they are. Grooming, cyber bullying…. ....via social media.”

“I don't use social media so I have no worries when using the internet”

If you could improve something about the internet and being online, what would it be and why?

“to make it safer because the internet is a dangerous place.”

“Safer search engines”

“….mostly safer sites (such as Facebook, snapchat and Instagram) on hacking accounts and making friends with potentially dangerous people (make them safer)”

“Social media companies to take more responsibility for inappropriate content on their sites.”

“That when you go social media you would have to be on a certain age to go on it and also more security online and safety”

“I would like no bullying online as there is enough in real life. I also do not like the fake people online who use the Photoshop apps to look like someone that they actually are not. I do not like the body confidence apps that change people as people believe that is what they look like and try and be like them, when actually its all fake.”

“I would improve the security of the Internet and allow the police to access everyone’s internet usage, because in the modern day paedophiles can get in contact with children quite easily.”

“If anyone does cyber - bullying, then the social media site will ban them and get them into trouble. If they do it again they won't be allowed on the site for a certain amount of time.”

“I think you should be able to know who someone is just from a message so if its someone you don’t know instead of asking who they are you can just delete them”

The final words go to a young person clearly wise beyond their years …

Please tell us why you use the internet?

“To connect with friends, family, teachers and gain an insight into the rapidly changing world. I also use it to enhance my academic grades by using online textbooks, watching videos, typing etc. As well as learning new skills such as cooking, playing the guitar and the piano. I also use it for its satnav capabilities.”

Please tell us what is the best thing for you about being able to use the Internet?

“The ability to learn easier than any other generation before me”

Is there anything that worries you or issues you have experienced whilst using the Internet?

“Although freedom of speech is something everyone should be grateful that the internet has enabled it is being abused by a minority who insight hatred. Furthermore it is scary that those viewing hatred can be pushed further down that path via surveillance assemblages that direct you onto similar content to keep one on that website. Also the rapidly developing electronic world is scary because adults often can not keep up and therefore cannot protect the vulnerable. The government at large cannot keep up with rapid changes either. Therefore allowing hackers to find more and more ways of destroying livelihoods and even the NHS. The electronic panopticon is scary as a citizen because the growing awareness that we are being watched cannot truly encourage curiosity.”

If you could improve something about the internet and being online, what would it be and why?

"The clarity around how to use it. So that most people know how to use it to its full positive potential and protect the vulnerable because of that knowledge. Also encourage people not to use it habitually and alternatively have a conversation.”

Age Range of Participants

Use of Social Media

We asked participants to tell us what social media sites they used and if they did not use them, what was the reason. Just under 42% said they did not use social media almost all of whom said they were too young. Participants were able to make multiple selections and as can be seen those that did use social media used more than one platform, with Instagram and WhatsApp being the most used and Twitter the least. We also asked them to name ‘other’ social media Apps we had not listed. Of these YouTube was the most often named.

Fortnite’s “no” to Play Store creates potential for malware.

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 15:26:06 GMT

There’s real concern over the decision not to distribute Android versions of the hit-game Fortnite through Google’s Play Store.

Makers Epic have opted for distributing the software to gamers themselves to reduce costs and build relationships with gamers directly.

However, many are worried that not opting to use Google Play will open the door to scammers, seeing malware and viruses being distributed through fake websites and offers.

At Guardian Saints we’re aware that the game is incredibly popular among young people and those in care are no exception.

So what advice can you give your young people?

Make sure that Fortnite and its add-ons are always downloading from the official Epic Games site - https://www.epicgames.com
If there’s an offer that’s “too good to be true” for add-ons etc. then it usually is.

In addition, one of our team Doug Johnston has pointed out that “Anyone using Android 7 or earlier will have to edit security settings to ‘allow’ download from other sources. They should return setting back to ‘not allow’ such downloads but probably won’t as they'll be in hurry to play the game.”

Safer Internet Day - 2018 Prize Draw Winners announced

keepmesafe@guardiansaints.com (Guardian Saints CiC) — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 13:43:47 GMT

The prize draw was conducted on the 6th February 2018.

The winning entry numbers are:

First Drawn Entry No: - 69742673
Second Drawn Entry No: - 71398808
Third Drawn Entry No: - 70079143

All winners have been notified and further details will be provided once Guardian Saints have acquired the necessary publication approvals.

We will be sending an invitation to all Local Authorities (LA) and Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA) asking them to support Safer Internet Day by encouraging their young people to participate in the prize draw. We will also urge those organisations to register as a supporter.

The draw will take place on Safer Internet Day, the winning numbers will be posted on our website shortly afterwards and we will contact the relevant organisation (LA/IFA) to inform the young person.

To facilitate participation, we will provide a draft email to be sent to Foster Carers, which will include a link to the prize draw entry form, which they can share with the young people for whom they care. We can also provide templates for those organisations that wish to promote the prize draw via their own website.

The prizes are:

An iPad, 32GB with Wi-Fi Connectivity

(Donated by Steve Pankhurst)

A Real Madrid Shirt Signed by Gareth Bale, Luca Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Nacho

(Donated by BT)

£150 Amazon Voucher
(Donated by Menlo Security)

M ore details

guardiansaints

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For Windows:

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Thank you all for joining Guardian Saints in supporting Safer Internet Day and participating in our prize draw

Calling all Young People in Care - enter the prize draw and complete our survey to support Safer Internet Day 2021

Join us and help to make the internet a safer place for young people in care

The prizes are Amazon Vouchers to the value of:

1st Prize £150

2nd Prize £100

3rd Prize £50

Prize Sponsors

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Get involved and take part in the development of current and new digital play settings.

FAQs and Facts

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Calling all Fostering Social Workers - enter the prize draw and complete our survey to support Safer Internet Day 2021

Join us and help to make the internet a safer place for young people in care

The prizes are Amazon Vouchers to the value of:

1st Prize £150

2nd Prize £100

3rd Prize £50

Prize Sponsors

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP AS A SUPPORTER OF SAFER INTERNET DAY – WE HAVE!

Save the date Guardian Saints is promoting Safer Internet Day 2021 - join us now!

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GDPR Gap Analysis - Case Study February 2020

Calling all Fostering Social Workers - enter the prize draw and complete our survey to support Safer Internet Day 2021

Join us and help to make the internet a safer place for young people in care

The prizes are Amazon Vouchers to the value of:

1st Prize £150

2nd Prize £100

3rd Prize £50

Prize Sponsors

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Safer Internet Day - 2019 Prize Draw Winners announced

The prize draw was conducted on the 5th February 2019 in Rotherham, at the ‘Your Child’s Digital World Fostering Conference’organised by the Foster Care Co-Operative (FCC)

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Age Range of Participants

Use of Social Media

Fortnite’s “no” to Play Store creates potential for malware.

There’s real concern over the decision not to distribute Android versions of the hit-game Fortnite through Google’s Play Store.

Safer Internet Day - 2018 Prize Draw Winners announced

The prize draw was conducted on the 6th February 2018.

GDPR Gap Analysis - Case Study

February 2020