Tim Richmond, a business technology specialist, has joined Scunthorpe-based HBP Systems.

With more than 12 years' business-focused technology experience working for companies such as Bulldog Broadband, Cable & Wireless and Netbenefit, Tim has expressed his wish to be considered a resource for local companies to draw on.

Tim started his career in 1995 as the prime adviser for, and was instrumental in setting up, Lincolnshires first independant internet service provider, Merlin Internet.

He was also a former shareholder of WISPA, the World Internet Service Provider Association, which describes Tim as "an excellent and keen business mind."

Tim said: "In today's economic climate, small to medium sized companies spend most of their time focused on meeting their primary business objectives.

My primary objective is to help local businesses achieve more, and deal with their business problems through the effective use of technology."

He added: "New innovative ideas don't always have to cost vast amounts of money to implement and I am always interested in talking with companies about what they are doing and inspiring them to achieve more.

"Whether a company has never used a computer before, or relies heavily on technology to operate, I can help in advising them on technology direction and strategy."

Tim said the key issues businesses faced in today's technological advanced business environment were stability and security.

Meanwhile, HBP is offering a free visit to local businesses to advise on preventing attacks to IT systems.

At one time it was possible to steal a company's information, but not without removing a filing cabinet or two and employing the aid of a truck. But these days all your business critical data can be stolen with the click of a mouse or walked out of your office in someone's jacket pocket.

The computer virus reaches its 25th birthday this month, and although most companies have some form of anti-virus solution in place, HBP said most did not realise their solutions were out of date and inadequate or fully understand the risks and holes within their network.

Viruses may be small and undetected or their effects can be very loud and visible, depending on the type, variant and purpose of the virus you may be infected with.

Some viruses are simple relay programmes turning your computer or network into a gateway for spreading SPAM.

Other viruses called trojans can be far more dangerous as they allow a person outside of your network to access all the information stored on your hard drives and networks connected to the infected device.

There are even viruses designed to turn your computer in to a zombie - this kind of virus emits a code to your network instructing it to send random nonsense data to a target server. This kind of attack could bring the target server to its knees and cripple your bandwidth. This is known as a DDOS attack.

Virus cleanup costs UK business more than £30-billion a year so good virus protection is essential for all businesses no matter how small.

HBP Systems takes security and these types of threats very seriously and is offering free site visits to assess and advise local businesses on how to prevent such attacks to their IT systems, to ensure they are not going to be the victim of this growing threat.

Anyone who registers for this consultation will not only get a free report with advice but will be entered into a prize draw to win an iPod nano.

To register call 01724 400300 or go to http://www.computernetworkingsystems.co.uk/security.