It should not be relied upon
- {% endcall %} -A more pragmatic approach to information security
-In the past, government has taken a risk-averse approach to information security. This resulted in services that were unhelpful and hard to use.
+Use a practical approach to information security, one that balances a user’s need to be kept informed with being kept safe.
-We’re switching to a more pragmatic approach to information security – one that balances a user’s needs to be kept informed and kept safe.
- -In the past, for example, our blanket no-links policy meant we were telling people to “search ‘the UK government’ and click the first result” rather than just telling them to “visit www.gov.uk”. Other services had a blanket policy of not sending any information at all, resulting in obtuse messages like “You have a message in your online account. Sign in to see the message.” (no sign-in link included).
Start by writing the message you want to send. Don’t worry about the information security aspect just yet – write the message you want to convey as clearly and directly as possible.
-We have design patterns and content guidance to help you write clearly and convey the right information at the right time.
+Use our design patterns along with the GOV.UK style guide to help you write clearly and convey the right information at the right time.
-Once you have a message which meets user needs, look at it in relation to the risks below. Use this framework to decide if you need to change the message in order to keep the users safe.
+Once you have a message which meets user needs, look at it in relation to the risks we outline. Use this to decide if you need to change the message in order to keep the users safe.
There are 3 main risks involved in sending notifications by text message, email or letter:
-For some messages, the recipient would be unhappy if someone else accidentally saw the contents – for example, the results of a recent medical test.
+For some messages, the recipient would be unhappy if someone else accidentally saw the contents, for example, the results of a recent medical test.
This is a privacy issue – in this case the unintended recipient isn’t trying to steal money or identity information.
-To address this risk, don’t reveal the important information in the subject line or opening sentence, or ask the user to sign in to see the information in full. More about this below.
+To address this risk, don’t reveal the important information in the subject line or opening sentence, or ask the user to sign in to see the information in full.
It’s also possible for a criminal to gain access to someone’s entire email inbox, phone messages or paper files. Email accounts can be hacked, phones and paper files can be stolen, left lying around or picked out of the rubbish.
-In both cases, criminals are looking for information they can use to commit fraud. To address this risk, don’t send payment details, ID numbers or any other information that can be used for fraud. More about this below.
+In both cases, criminals are looking for information they can use to commit fraud. To address this risk, don’t send payment details, ID numbers or any other information that can be used for fraud.
This is known as a ‘phishing attack’.
-To address this risk, don’t send requests for personal information of any kind, unless the request is directly connected with a transaction. More about this below.
+To address this risk, don’t send requests for personal information of any kind, unless the request is directly connected with a transaction.
If you think the recipient might be upset if someone accidentally saw the message contents, either:
+To avoid someone other than the recipient accidentally seeing a message that has sensitive or confidential information, either:
Remember that even the sender ID also reveals information. For example, don’t set your sender name as ‘STI clinic’.
To reduce the risk if messages are intercepted, hacked or stolen, don’t send information that can be used for fraud – either now or in the future:
+To reduce the risk if messages are intercepted, hacked or stolen, don’t send messages with:
To reduce the risk from phishing attacks, don’t send requests for personal information of any kind, unless the request is directly connected with a transaction.
-It’s OK to send a request for personal information if it’s directly connected with a transaction. Here are two examples of where it would be OK:
+It’s OK to send a request for personal information if it’s directly connected with a transaction. Here are 2 examples of where it would be OK:
The same 2 rules above apply to links, too:
+The same 2 rules above apply to links:
There are additional rules that apply specifically to links:
+There are additional rules that apply specifically to links.
-If you want to communicate something, write it in the body of the email. This is more user-friendly. If the information is too sensitive to include in the email body, it’s too sensitive to include in an attachment.
-If you need to send someone a file, make the file available within your service, then link to it.
- -Criminals often use attachments to conceal viruses, spyware and other kinds of malware. We want people to be cautious about opening attachments.
+If you need to send someone a file, make the file available within your service, then link to it.
+Start your message by addressing the user. For example, Hi Alice Smith or Dear Bob Jones. Including this extra piece of information makes phishing more difficult.
There are several technical approaches to preventing phishing – SPF/DKIM, DMARC and TLS. You must use them.
+There are several technical approaches to preventing phishing. You must use SPF/DKIM, DMARC and TLS.
SPF/DKIM and DMARC make sure your emails get delivered, whilst phishing and spam email gets filtered into junk mail.
TLS makes sure that no-one can intercept your emails.
“Dear Anne Smith, you’ve got a licence appointment tomorrow at 2:15pm at the Licence Office, 1 Chapel Hill, Heswall, Bournemouth BH1 1AA. To cancel your appointment, visit licensing.service.gov.uk/appointment/12345678/cancel. To change your appointment time, sign in to your account.”
+This is a good example because:
+“Dear Andrew Jones, to add a location photo to your environmental permit application, visit environmentalpermit.service.gov.uk/12345678/add-photo. If you didn’t request this link, please ignore this message.”
+This is a good example because:
+These guidelines are the minimum requirement. If you want to take more stringent measures for your service, that’s fine.
+These guidelines are the minimum requirement. You can take stricter measures for your service if you think it's necessary.
Just make sure you’re balancing your users’ needs to be kept informed and kept safe.