Guild-WARP (GUWARP)

Guild-WARP was set up in June 2004 as the UK's first low-cost Warning, Advice and Reporting Point (WARP) in the voluntary sector and the first step towards the concept of expanding the WARP concept from the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) out to the wider public. Guild-WARP is run by the Guild of One-Name Studies, a charitable genealogical society dedicated to the promotion of One-Name Studies. A one-name study is a genealogical project researching all occurrences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree (ancestors of one person) or descendancy (descendants of one person or couple). See our home page.

The WARP concept is valuable to genealogists and family historians because such researchers nowadays are intensive users of electronic data and Internet services, yet their age profile and IT experience often means they are not expert in computer and information security matters, so a WARP provides reassuring and trusted support in an environment that discourages the sharing of inappropriate advice (such as passing on hoaxes and urban myths). The WARP is based on a use of a simple free distribution list (a Yahoo Group), with the associated web page providing a message archive and access to advice files and useful links. The WARP administrator distributes warnings filtered from the CPNI Infosec Helpdesk and the major anti-virus vendors' own warnings and responds to individuals who report problems or seek advice. Guild-WARP, though on a small scale, is officially recognised by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure and follows the same Code of Practice as larger WARPs and looks forward to collaborating with other WARPs.

Further details from the

More information about the WARP programme is at www.warp.gov.uk

The WARP programme is managed by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure.