As a reminder, a particularly nasty virus or ransomware called CryptoLocker is on the rise.

What’s the big deal?
It encrypts your files and you could potentially lose your data forever including the data on your file servers.

How can I get infected?
The ransomware has typically been delivered via email with an attachment from what appears to be reputable senders such as FedEx and UPS.

What to do?

Prevention:

Be smart.

On April 8, 2014, Microsoft will no longer support or update Windows XP or Office 2003.  What does this mean?  These programs will be even more vulnerable to outside attacks. Take action before you get in a lurch!

They will still work but, and it’s a big BUT…You could be facing serious security and compliance issues if you continue to use these programs.

What motivates people to create computer viruses?  Well, the ability to cripple a network is one motivator!
 
Computer crippling viruses are still out there but not as often as viruses mentioned in previous emails.  The reason being is that if a computer is disabled, it is no longer able to spread the virus to other computers.

What motivates people to create computer viruses?  Well, Identity Theft is a big motivator!
 
Viruses designed to steal sensitive information sift through the traffic to and from a computer for interesting information such as passwords or credit card numbers.

GoDaddy DNS down
Around 1pm this afternoon, GoDaddy started experiencing issues with their DNS service. What is DNS and why do you care? DNS or domain name service is essentially the yellow pages of the Internet. If a computer wants to know how to go to a website or send a piece of email, it needs to look up the desired "phone number” (technically an IP address) to get there.

Last but not least as we recognize African American technology innovators this month is Lonnie Johnson.  On a hot summer day, we owe Lonnie a big "thank you" for bringing us the Super Soaker.  Lonnie, an aerospace engineer who loved to tinker at home, was working on creating a heat pump that used water to cool down instead of Freon -- the result, the Super Soaker.

As a young girl, I was fortunate to be encouraged by my father to pursue whatever interested me even if it wasn't a traditional field for a woman.  Not so for Valerie Thomas.  

Valerie Thomas was fascinated by technology as a young child but it wasn't until college that she was finally able to pursue her passion for physics.

In today's world, technology is everywhere.  As an early proponent of technology, Roy L. Clay has become known to some as the godfather of black Silicon Valley for helping break down barriers for African Americans in technology. His recruitment and development of talent has helped usher in the next generation of black technology innovators.

As an electrical engineer, I learned about the importance of resistors in any electric circuit.  A resistor is a crucial electronics component that impedes the flow of electrical current.  
When it came to resistors, Otis F. Boykin really knew his stuff.

African Scientific Institute

Then you should thank Marc Hannah - He's next up in our month-long recognition of African-Americans who have contributed to computer technology as part of Black History month.

Marc Hannah was one of the founders of Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI).  SGI is famous for its innovations in computer graphics and Marc Hannah is a special effects wizard.