The Rise of the Zombie

Approximately 40% of the machines that we visit to perform virus and spyware removal are what is termed "Zombie" PC's. That is they respond very slowly to the users input and have been hijacked by hackers and the spare processing power of the machine used for criminal activities. Its a real problem, many hackers now boast that they control thousands of machines, I hear reports that they are being traded in blocks of thousands of machines on the Internet. The usual route for a hacker to gain access to your machine is through a viral program that infects your machine and allows him to connect in to your machine(s). Plain Firewalls can't stop this, they only prevent unsolicited inbound connections, they can't prevent outbound connections otherwise your web browsing would fail. Basically the firewall only prevents inbound connections if no corresponding outbound connection has been made. The virus makes the outbound connection and bingo, the firewall will then allow replies to that connection and the hacker has circumvented your firewall software. Better firewalls can help by only allowing the programs you specify to have internet access.

Could your machine be a Zombie?

Natdata Ltd becomes Authorised reseller for AVG Anti-virus.

Natdata Ltd has achieved authorised reseller status for the AVG anti virus range of products. We believe AVG to be the best anti virus product around and the cost is sure to bring a smile to any business owner! Please call for the latest prices and discounts.

Natdata Ltd Launches online backup service for Business Customers.

Natdata Ltd has launched an online backup service exclusively for use by business customers in the Havering area. Customers data is encrypted using 128 bit encryption technology to ensure it is securely transmitted across the internet to our secure backup servers. Once received the data is compressed meaning that many thousands of files can be fitted into the default allocation of 2 GigaBytes of storage. The software is free and all users pay for is the monthly storage space and bandwidth rental which starts at just £15 per month for up to 2GB of backup storage. The backup strategy can be as simple or as complex as you like but the software comes with a simple configuration that means the majority of users can backup their data offsite with a single click.

For more information please see our dedicated web page.

Ian Durrant MBCS CITP achieves Chartered Status.

Senior consultant and Managing Director, Ian Durrant has today (27/02/06) been awarded the all new, professional status of Charted IT Professional by the British Computer Society. The British Computer Society is the learned institution covering IT in the UK. This means that Natdata's customers can now be even more assured of professional service as we are now covered by the BCS code of conduct.