iboss cloud becomes an integral part of the Cafcass cloud architecture
Learn how the largest employer of qualified social workers in the UK leveraged iboss to prevent malware, phishing, and other cyberthreats
Cafcass Government Services Case Study
Download the complete case study to learn how Cafcass integrated iboss cloud security to protect vulnerable children and families.
Key Statistics
Overview
Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) stands as the largest employer of qualified social workers in the United Kingdom, with 2,000 staff including board members and contractors dedicated to protecting vulnerable children and families. With an outstanding Ofsted rating achieved in 2018, Cafcass worked with 133,850 young people during 2018-19, providing critical support services for family court proceedings and child welfare matters. As a vital government service handling extraordinarily sensitive data about children and families, Cafcass recognized the need to integrate advanced cloud security into their existing cloud architecture to protect against evolving cyber threats while maintaining their exceptional service standards.
Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)'s Challenge
As the largest employer of qualified social workers in the UK, Cafcass faced unique cybersecurity challenges after migrating their infrastructure to the cloud from 2016 onwards. By 2018, they had retired their last on-premise physical servers, but maintaining cutting-edge cyber-security remained a core element of their cloud strategy, especially with their role in safeguarding children and young people magnifying security requirements.
The launch of the government's Protective DNS (PDNS) service in 2017, created by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), presented both an opportunity and a challenge. PDNS prevents access to malicious domains and stops malware from calling home, but integration required that source IP addresses be identifiable as coming from Cafcass. Their incumbent solution couldn't achieve this, as source IP addresses could come from offices, personal broadband, mobile hotspots, or public WiFi. Additionally, the Minimum Cyber Security Standard (MCSS) demanded more comprehensive protection, including scanning traffic for malware, whether encrypted or not.
Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)'s iboss Solution
Peter Clark began investigating how to connect with PDNS at the start of 2019, determining that a direct cloud connection was essential while avoiding any architecture requiring on-premise hardware. Unlike other cloud security solutions, iboss provided 100% dedicated IP addresses to customers, allowing users to always present a source IP associated with their organization, whether in the office or remote.
The iboss cloud's unique capability enabled seamless integration with PDNS, providing the specific IP address space needed for government integration. The solution included SSL decryption capabilities, allowing content filtering by web categories, domains, keywords, RegEx patterns, or HTTP header content. Mobile device protection was included in the same license package, with iboss Cloud Connector deployed to iOS managed devices, ensuring consistent security policies regardless of location. The entire migration from market research to deployment took less than six months, with the actual migration from legacy solution to iboss cloud user acceptance testing and rollout completed in just weeks.
We asked iboss to address this challenge and were struck by how quickly and effectively they came back with a solution. Not all vendors are so flexible. Speed of deployment was impressive. Migration from the legacy solution to iboss cloud user acceptance testing and rollout took place in a matter of weeks.
Key Results for Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service)
- Enhanced protection against malware, phishing, and cyber threats
- Improved security for sensitive child welfare data
- Successful integration with existing cloud infrastructure
- Enhanced protection for 2,000 social workers and contractors
- Maintained 'Outstanding' rating while improving cybersecurity
Highlights
- Enhanced comprehensive protection against malware, phishing, and sophisticated cyber threats targeting government services
- Improved security for extraordinarily sensitive child welfare and family court data affecting 133,850+ young people
- Successful seamless integration with existing cloud infrastructure without service disruption
- Enhanced protection for 2,000 social workers and contractors accessing critical case management systems
- Maintained outstanding Ofsted rating while significantly improving cybersecurity posture
- Specialized government-grade security controls designed for child welfare and family court operations
- Proactive threat detection and prevention ensuring operational continuity for essential services