February 2021 – Old friends, new faces and timely security advice
Clearly, we are still doing something right and by February 2021 people have not yet tired of virtual “zoom” meetings.
There were plenty of old friends and we were pleased to welcome some new faces among the February breakfast crowd.
If you want to find out more about some of our members do check out the Member Spotlights page. Bear in mind that we do one a month so there’s an ongoing list of people to add!
This month’s presentation was from Dave Baker of Performance Plus.
Timely security advice
Dave’s first order of business was to introduce us to a collection of new acronyms: TLAs (Three letter Acronyms), CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, Accountability) and WFH (Working from Home), which neatly summed up his topic of online security.
Given how many people are now working from home and will be for the foreseeable future, Dave’s advice was both timely and useful and, as he said, mostly common sense. He summed it up in four main points.
1. Don’t leave work-related stuff lying around when working from home. If you have a camera on your software, as most people do, you might unwittingly be giving away confidential information. Equally, you might have private information on noticeboards.
2. Don’t assume you’re too small. It is not only the big businesses that are targeted with scams. Security is important for small businesses too, as well as for private individuals.
3. Don’t make it easy for the bad guys. If you stand out as being less security-aware you are going to be a target.
4. Don’t let anyone else use your laptop, phone, PC etc. Don’t open emails if you don’t recognise the sender and never ever click on links they contain. Equally, you should not plug anything into your PC, such as USB sticks, if you don’t know their provenance.
Dave’s advice for things people should always do is to lock away everything possible, from briefcases to filing cabinets, to use strong passwords and to use different pin numbers for different cards. It is also a good idea to change all passwords regularly.
And finally, did you know that the most commonly used password of 2020 was 123456? Yes, really!
For the future
Don’t miss our virtual Business Exhibition, BB4B (Bounce Back for Business) in April! You’ll find all the details online here:
While there is, at last, a cautious timetable for easing lockdown, for the time being, monthly meetings will continue to be on the usual dates via Zoom. You will receive emails in advance to give you the log-in details and passwords.
Chairman Allan is always happy to receive any suggestions for what members want to see the Chamber doing in the future. Please send your ideas (and your wish lists) to [email protected]
Dates for your diary:
| March Coffee | March Breakfast |
| Online with Zoom | Online with Zoom |
| Friday, March 5 | Friday, March 16 |
| 10.00am | NEW TIME 8.00am |
For more information contact Keely Taylor
phone: 01449 770965 e-mail: [email protected].
Anyone who has a story to publicise should contact marketing officer Alison Withers: [email protected]
