Dear Colleagues,

You may have recently received an email communication from janeelspeth@protonmail.com or another associated email address with a subject heading 'Urgent Alert for Headteachers & Designated Safeguarding Leads: Potential Safeguarding and Data Protection Risks in ePEP Online System for Looked-After Children'. 

Devon County Council has been working with eGov on this and can confirm ePEP has been approved by GCloud 14, the GOV.UK digital marketplace which is currently accredited as Cyber Essentials Plus. ePEP continues to be used in Devon to manage our PEPs for care-experienced young people. 

To provide further reassurance, eGov has commissioned a Penetration Test on its ePEP platform.  A summary of the results is below. 

What is Penetration Testing (PEN Test) 

A penetration test is a proactive way to ensure your digital systems are secure by finding and fixing vulnerabilities before real hackers can exploit them. It’s like having a professional check your locks and alarms to make sure your house (or digital system) is safe. 

Confirmation of Penetration Test 

The Pentest People conducted a comprehensive web application penetration test on infrastructure owned and operated by eGov Solutions Ltd.  The purpose of the assessment is to identify any software-based or configuration vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a remote attacker. The assessment concluded with the overwhelming confirmation of an application configured to an excellent standard. 

Other Local Authorities have also received a warning email, however I can confirm the following: 

• If you received any further communication in relation to this, please forward to educationsystems@devon.gov.uk for tracking.  Please do not respond to the email directly.  

• We do not use Squiddle in Devon due to how we encourage a holistic approach in understanding the young person's views 

• Do not share user account details within the school. If you require any additional accounts, please contact educationsystems@devon.gov.uk 

• The site uses https:// which shows that this is encrypted and safe. Make sure you use the following URL to access the ePEP system: ePEP Single Sign-on  

Best Wishes,