We are delighted to announce Mark Dodds, Co-Owner of Compex IT as the newest member of the centre’s Advisory Group.

The Advisory Group is formed of professionals who come from a diverse range of industries and play a key role in providing guidance, advice, and support around the initiatives and work the WMCRC undertakes.

Mark has worked in the IT industry for over 25 years. He now co-owns Compex IT, a Managed Services Provider starting as an employee several years ago. Compex IT offers a one-stop-shop for all things IT-related, helping businesses in Birmingham and the Midlands in a number of different sectors including financial management, Architectural, and manufacturing, get the most out of their technology whilst keeping it simple, efficient, and secure.

Cyber security plays a major role in what Mark and his team do for their clients on a daily basis, making sure they are protected in multiple ways and are always at the forefront of the latest mitigation techniques to deal with the ever-evolving dangers.

The most important thing to Mark is keeping IT simple, ensuring their clients have the right tools, which are supported to work for them, and not the other way around without compromising on performance and effectiveness.

Mark is also an author of “Out of Office” a cyber security book he wrote specifically for small and medium business owners and managers using a fictitious story of a business owner to explain with complicated cyber security concepts in a way that anyone can understand.

On joining the Advisory Group at the WMCRC, Mark said:

I’m hugely passionate about educating businesses in an informative, easy-to-understand way on how to improve their cyber resilience as it quite understandably a confusing subject.

Like anything, you don’t know what you don’t know. The more that businesses can understand the concepts and the risks they face, the more likely they’ll be likely to take action and protect one of their most important assets – their data.

There is a big myth that cybercrime only happens to big enterprises but the simple truth is it can happen to any business, however big or small. In fact, smaller businesses are targeted more as they know these types of businesses tend to make cybersecurity less of a priority.

The true cost of a data breach can be devastating, not only is it the instant impact it has, such as downtime and lost business but the long-term reputational damage it can have.

I think people have become a lot more aware of how businesses are looking after their sensitive information. Good security practices can in fact become a competitive advantage for businesses these days.

I am excited at the opportunity of joining the WMCRC advisory group, I’m very eager to share my knowledge and learn from other members. My ultimate goal is to educate the SME community in a simple, easy-to-understand way.

Director of The Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, Vanessa Eyles said:

“I’m thrilled to welcome Mark to our growing Advisory Group, his knowledge and passion for education being a key defence mechanism for businesses is something we completely agree with.

The current economic climate is putting businesses under significant strain as the cost-of-living crisis continues. Here at the WMCRC, we appreciate that small businesses don’t have thousands to spend on protecting their businesses from a seemingly invisible threat.

The reality is that cyber-attacks are not an invisible threat, they are in fact an extremely real threat and come at almighty costs for the businesses involved.

It is my hope that through the work we do with Mark and our other Advisory Group members, we can continue to drive awareness of cyber security and how all businesses can access support, guidance, and resources to improve their cyber resilience.”

Improve your business’s cyber security with free membership at the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands

If you would like to learn how you can improve your business’s cyber security, please take a look at the free membership available with the Cyber Resilience Centre for the West Midlands, or why not talk to us about becoming a part of our exclusive paid membership community.

With our free membership, you will receive regular tips and guidance on how to firm up your business’s cyber security. We have already produced checklists for you to follow to help you develop best practices, short and easy-to-follow videos that highlight how to spot the signs of phishing attacks, and many other resources.

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