Working to solve skills deficit

The jobs of tomorrow are here today, and the technology sector offers great opportunities to people at all levels – from school leavers and graduates to people who have worked in other professions but are seeking new skills for the future.

Software and cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data analysis, and the Internet of Things – working lives are increasingly digitally-dominated and it means that career opportunities in the sector are out there.

Clark IT is helping to nurture the next generation of talent by investing in school leavers and young people by offering apprenticeships and training.

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Cyber Conscious 8 May

Sloppy security makes businesses an easy target for criminal hackers yet too many are blinkered to the real and constant risk that hardcore hackers pose to their operations.

A recent study has revealed that  47% of small businesses have been hit by a cyberattack in the last year, with 63% of medium businesses having fallen victim.

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Google fine 24 Jan

Google’s £44 million fine for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) should serve as a warning to businesses of all sizes that they have a mandatory responsibility to uphold the regulation, according to a Scottish technology business leader.

Austen Clark, managing director of Clark Integrated Technologies said that the massive fine imposed on Google by the French data regulator CNIL, is a sign that data privacy obligations should be taken extremely seriously.

Mr Clark said: “This is the start of the GDPR having teeth. We are now in the next phase of the process: enforcement by the authorities that have been mandated to uphold the regulation.

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Future digital 18 March

Making Tax Digital is a Government drive aimed at making it easier for individuals and businesses to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs.

HMRC’s ambition is to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world – a bold step. To manage tax in the digital domain, HMRC needs businesses to submit financial information in a digital format.

VAT-registered businesses with a taxable turnover above the VAT threshold are required to use the Making Tax Digital service to keep records digitally and use software to submit their VAT returns from 1 April 2019.

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Protect Your Business 14 Jan 60504

The landscape for cyber-crime is changing. It used to be about causing disruption or gaining notoriety or fame for an attack but now it’s more financially motivated – and that’s not good for business.

So never lose sight of digital dangers - the Federation of Small Businesses* reports that the average cybercrime incident costs a small business nearly £3,000 and takes more than two days to recover from.

Every Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) needs strong cyber security defences but don’t be scared off, practical steps can strengthen your protection.

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Subcategories

When it comes to passwords and internet security, sometimes the simpler solutions are actually the best.

Let’s take a closer look at how to truly safeguard the information you value most.

Choosing your password

We are often told how essential it is to create numerous complex passwords, and that they should be used uniquely across all our internet applications. The logic behind this decision may seem flawed, but it is rooted in real fears.

However, in practice, having too many passwords can be a terrible headache – not to mention a potential security risk. What if you forget your vital passwords? What if you write them down and misplace the note? What if someone else finds your passwords and accesses your accounts?

Memorising your password

Advice for many years has been to simply memorise your passwords instead of storing them. People have been told that storing passwords in any form is inherently a high-risk activity.

While we encourage the use of password managers (alongside recommendations from the National Cybersecurity Centre (NCSC), interest in this tech has remained low. Yet the recommends a refreshed approach to passwords. Would it work for you?

Three random words

NCSC suggests that established thinking around password creation is flawed, because it expects the end-user (us) to memorise numerous lengthy passwords.

Instead of taking this approach, it may make more sense to instead opt for three ‘random’ words – strong enough to work on many different platforms, and to not be guessed by aspiring hackers – but not so obscure that you can’t remember them, either!


The strategy is informed by real-world customer behaviour, making it a little more grounded and practical in scope.

Key areas to consider with this approach include:

  • Length of passwords – this will likely be much longer than single-word passwords.
  • Impact of passwords – the technique needs to be implemented across multiple different platforms to work most efficiently.
  • Novelty of passwords – using three random words can help remove easy guesswork for hackers, making passwords safer and more secure.
  • Usability and user-friendliness – this is a crucial aspect to remember, as it allows for user-error and forgetfulness to be overcome without hindering security protection.

Concerns around three random words

Of course, no password solution is entirely failsafe. There is always the possibility this approach could be seen as weaker than completely randomised password approaches, though the NCSC argues this is not entirely true.

Instead, the randomisation and length of the passwords could in fact be considerably stronger and more targeted than some passwords that are traditionally considered as efficient, but are actually incredibly easy to guess and exploit.

To find out more about the topic, head for the official National Cyber Security Centre website. Get practical help with your cybersecurity by contacting our expert team.