About Bruce Penson

Managing Director of Pro Drive IT

Four risky ways staff record passwords in businesses – and why you will regret allowing them

2024-01-11T11:51:45+00:00January 2nd, 2024|Cyber Security, Productivity, Security and Threats|

In the modern tech enabled world, most office workers now have more passwords to use than they can remember.  If they do not, they are likely committing the grave error of using the same password in more than one system – something that they and your business will live to regret. Most firms still [...]

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Pro Drive’s summary of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre annual review

2023-12-11T15:58:03+00:00November 29th, 2023|Cyber Essentials, Cyber Security, Energy, Security and Threats|

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre has just released its annual review covering the period from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023. You can read the report yourself by visiting the NCSC website. However, if you are short on time, Pro Drive has summarized the key points that SME businesses should be aware [...]

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Bing Chat Enterprise – the new AI assistant available NOW to Microsoft 365 users

2023-11-29T11:50:44+00:00November 10th, 2023|AI, Cloud Services, Tips and Advice|

If you are using Microsoft 365 and have a license for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard or Business Premium you may have recently noticed a new ‘button’ appearing in the bar of the Microsoft Edge web browser. This innocuous looking symbol is the gateway to ‘Bing Chat Enterprise’, Microsoft’s generative AI chat service [...]

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Don’t let the move to cloud-based accountancy software make you complacent about your cyber security

2023-11-10T15:44:55+00:00November 10th, 2023|Accountants, Cloud Services, Cyber Security, Security and Threats|

Accountants have accelerated their transition from paper-based to digital-based systems, particularly embracing modern cloud-based bookkeeping and practice management software. However, accountants remain highly appealing targets for cybercriminals: Many SME firms lack the resources to review their systems and adequately train their staff to reduce cyber risks. Accountants often handle transactions involving substantial sums of [...]

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Information Commissioners Office issues reprimand to Durham based law firm

2023-11-03T19:46:59+00:00November 3rd, 2023|Cyber Security, GDPR, Law|

In a clear demonstration of its intent to take action against data breaches resulting from poor cybersecurity practices, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which regulates and enforces the UK's data protection laws, recently issued a reprimand notice to Durham-based law firm Swinburne Snowball & Jackson (SSJ). The notice was issued as a result of [...]

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Can you automate admin in your business to save time and money?

2023-10-16T14:02:10+01:00October 16th, 2023|AI, Productivity, Tips and Advice|

Pro Drive IT’s Technical Director Matt Taylor shares his thoughts on how automation can benefit SME businesses: I recently attended a workshop with staff from two other technology firms about to discuss how we can leverage automation to help our client’s businesses and Pro Drive’s too. Every business big or small could benefit from [...]

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Microsoft Windows and Microsoft 365 Copilot AI will help you work faster and smarter

2023-10-16T14:00:50+01:00October 15th, 2023|AI, Productivity, Tips and Advice|

Microsoft have recently announced the release date for their Copilot artificial intelligence engine for Windows and the Microsoft 365 suite, including the Office apps.  The Windows update is already available and will gradually be deployed automatically via Windows update as long as you have Windows 11.  For Microsoft 365 and the Office apps, the [...]

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How to create a questionnaire to audit your suppliers’ cyber security in 15 minutes

2023-09-28T17:38:34+01:00September 28th, 2023|Accountants, Cyber Essentials, Cyber Security, Security and Threats, Tips and Advice|

We recently wrote about the increase in ‘supply chain cyber attacks’ and how the UK and EU governments are terrified about their impact on the economy. If you are a professional services firm, you may be the target of a ‘supply chain attack’ with cyber criminals looking to use data you hold to run [...]

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How do I choose a secure smartphone for my business?

2023-09-08T11:58:49+01:00September 8th, 2023|Compliance, Cyber Essentials, Cyber Security|

Choosing a mobile phones can be quite a personal decision – even when it comes to it being for business use.  In fact many smartphones being used for business purposes are in fact owned by staff and not the company. Most staff do not wish to carry a personal and business phone and businesses [...]

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I’ve got a security questionnaire from my client – what next?

2023-08-25T15:38:51+01:00August 25th, 2023|Accountants, Cyber Essentials, Cyber Security, Security and Threats, Tips and Advice|

We recently wrote about the increase in ‘supply chain cyber attacks’ and how the UK and EU governments are terrified about their impact on the economy. This has been on the radar of larger businesses for some time, but now many firms in the SME sector are waking up to the potential threats from [...]

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