Advice for recipients of Egress emails
At Cafcass, we use KnowBe4 (formerly Egress) to securely transfer emails and documents to non-secure email addresses. This is beneficial when emailing children and families, solicitors’ firms and other agencies that are not on a secure network. It ensures we meet our security and data protection requirements and keep your information as safe as possible.
Important Notice: The Egress platform was recently acquired by KnowBe4, a cybersecurity, phishing and security awareness company. Please find out more about this change and what it means for you in the information and advice at the bottom of this page.
Egress allows our staff to send confidential information to external email accounts (including Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail) securely. The nature of the work we carry out with children and families means that we often deal with information that is sensitive, so we are required to keep it safe and to share it only with those who need to know it. Measures such as secure postal services have been in place for some time now. However, we now send most of our information by email, because this is quicker and more convenient for the families and other agencies with whom we work. We therefore use an easy-to-use piece of software that helps ensure that any information sent by email is secure.
Egress is free to use for families and the other people we email
All recipients can view and securely reply to emails sent via Egress from us for free. You will only be charged if you use Egress yourself to send information to someone other than anyone at Cafcass, and if you have used up the 20 free credits provided when you sign-up.
When you receive your first encrypted email from us, you will be required to create an Egress account before you can sign in to view the email you have been sent. This is a short and simple process. Creating an account requires the input of an email address and the creation of a password. Once this is done, an activation code will be sent to your email address. You will then be able to sign in with your Egress login details. This will allow Egress encrypted email you have been sent and all future emails we send you.
Download a simple and easy-to-use guide on how to read and reply to Egress emails.
In general, emails sent via Egress can only be viewed by the original recipient. However, ‘access settings’ can be amended to allow other people to have read access. This is useful in the case of group mailboxes or where a solicitor needs to grant read access to colleagues or assistants. Alternatively, the person you have forwarded the email to, can choose the option ‘request access’, which will be sent to the sender of the email to approve.
Download a guide on how to allow a family member or friend to access emails on an Egress account.
Egress has a mobile website to enable easy use on a mobile device. There is also an Egress app available for BlackBerry devices, iPhones/iPads, and Android devices.
Egress does not store or save any information or data that we or you share when sending emails to each other. The data is securely encrypted to make sure nobody else can access it. The only information Egress keeps relates to how it is used and audited.
Egress has gone to great lengths to ensure they cannot see your information. The Egress Client software encrypts and decrypts your information on your local machine, so Egress does not have access to it.
As part of the ongoing integration of the former Egress platform with KnowBe4, who has now acquired Egress, the support system has changed to better serve you.
What This Means For You
Effective from Monday, May 5th, 2025:
- Your open support tickets will be migrated to the new system
- Support emails will come from a new address: support@knowbe4.zendesk.com
- The quality and timeliness of the Egress support team will remain unchanged
How to Reach Support Going Forward
Please contact the Egress support team directly using the following methods. Egress remains committed to providing you with excellent support through the following convenient channels:
Web Portal: https://support.knowbe4.com/hc/en-us/requests/new
Phone Support:
- UK: +44 20 3973 1333
- US: +1 617 766 2800
For further enquiries about Egress and its use within Cafcass, please email: governance@cafcass.gov.uk