CIO Solutions
Sept/Oct 2013 - Issue 40          
Find It Fast
Check with the Tech: Social Media for Dummies
What's New at CIO: CIO Salsa Showdown Results!
CIO In the News: CIO Continues to Expand Presence in South Counties
Security Update: Cryptolocker Virus
App of the Month: Lookout
Employee Spotlight: Mike Donovan
Quicklinks
CIO Logo 

CIO Logo  

                  

CIO Solutions  

Website
       
Follow us on Twitter

 
Join Our Mailing List!  

 

Birthdays

 

Nicholas Marshall - Sept 4
Peter Summers - Sept 10
Dat Nguyen - Oct 27


 

 

 

CIO Anniversaries

 

Chris N. - 7 years - 9/20

David A. - 5 years - 10/1

 Julie M. - 19 years - 10/6

Ryan P. - 5 years - 10/13 

 

 




Halloween
Thursday, Oct 31st 


halloween-ghost.jpg


 

Stay tuned for the results of our annual Halloween Costume Contest
 Tri-Counties and Beyond

Dear ,  

 

We have been active in the Tri-County area since 1986 and have continued to engage with clients in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and even Los Angeles Counties.  

 

Our wide variety of service offerings and our strategy to remain a local company, serving local businesses, are both strengthened by our growing presence in the greater Central Coast area.  

 

Here is a geographic depiction of our client base:  

 

 

 

Cheers,
John Petote
CEO, CIO Solutions

 

Check with the Tech: Social Media for Dummies
Check with the Tech
Q: I feel a little out of sync with all the new techy lingo out there, can you give me some definitions of common applications and phrases?

A:
  Of course! Here are some definitions of common social media terms:

Hashtag - is a word or a phrase prefixed with the symbol #. Short messages may be tagged by putting "#" before important words, either as they appear in a sentence or appended to it. Hashtags provide a means of grouping such messages on popular social networking services such as Twitter, Tumblr. and Instagram.

Instagram - is an online photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter and

Tumblr
. - is a microblogging platform and social networking website. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog. Users can follow other users' blogs, as well as make their blogs private.

Vine - is a mobile app owned by Twitter that enables its users to create and post short video clips. The service was introduced with a maximum clip length of six seconds and can be shared or embedded on social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook.

*Definitions taken from Wikipedia

 

What's New at CIO  
 
CIO Salsa Showdown Results!

Thank you to all who joined us for our Salsa Showdown.

Here are the results!

1st Place - Nicho - Salsa #5 
2nd Place - David A. - Salsa #14 
3rd Place - Luke - Salsa #16 


 
CIO In the News  
Read All About It!
CIO SOLUTIONS CONTINUES TO EXPAND PRESENCE IN SOUTH COUNTIES

 

CIO Solutions continues to actively expand their client base. 


October 24, 2013 - CIO Solutions, Santa Barbara's premier IT firm, has been active in the Tri-County area since 1986 and they continue to partner with clients from Ventura County as well as with clients from Los Angeles County. Many of the Los Angeles County companies have their headquarters in either Santa Barbara or Ventura counties.  

 

Some recent partnerships include Davies/Blaze PR, thinkThin, LLC, Hollandia Produce, United Parents, Ventura Toyota and Capitoline. CIO has partnered with clients from Los Angeles and Ventura Counties from their inception in 1986. Some of the longer partnerships include Bristol Associates, Inc., Royal Business Bank (previously Ventura County Business Bank) and Leadpoint.  

 

Eric Egolf, President of CIO Solutions said, "We are excited to continue the relationships we have formed with South County companies and are excited to focus on the counties of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo as well." 

 
CIO Solutions has been providing IT management and design services to the Central Coast since 1986. CIO specializes in helping businesses focus on their core business by designing and managing their IT department. In addition to managing IT networks, CIO also provides consultation on Private Cloud Services, Enterprise Storage, Virtualization, VoIP Phone Systems and other solutions.

 

  CIO Logo




Marketing Contact:

Hannah Rich

805-692-6700, ext. 105 

Security Update - Cryptolocker Virus 

lock

Recently there has been a significant number of companies infected with the virus, Cryptolocker.   

 

This virus will search the users files and any files that they have access to on the network and encrypt them.  The encryption algorithm is RSA 2048-bit and is quite significant.  The initially infected user will be presented with a screen that informs them of the virus, that all of their files have been encrypted and in order to undo this, that they must pay a ransom of $100-300 within the next 72-hours.  Once this notice is visible, the encryption has already been completed and the count-down has started on the 72-hours.  Once the time expires, the ransom can no longer be paid and restoring files from backup is the only recourse. 

 

Some of the infection vectors that this virus uses are visiting a website that has been hacked to make your computer download it when you visit the page or in an email that is masquerading as being from Fedex, UPS, DHL, LinkedIn and others and containing an attachment.  

 

Please be careful when opening attachments or when clicking on links sent in an email. If an email claims that you should visit the site to resolve an issue it is often best to go to their home page without clicking on the link in an email. For emails containing zip files as attachments, if it is from someone you do not know or do not do business with it is usually best to not open the file.  

 

For any questions if a zip file is safe to open feel free to contact Central Support at 805.692.6709 option 2.


App of the Month: Lookout 

   

 

Lookout is the ONLY free, all-in-one security app that:

- Locates your lost device from anywhere, on any internet connected device
- Automatically saves your device's location before it runs out of battery
- Backs up your contacts automatically
- Notifies you if you have an out-of-date or insecure version of iOS

Log in to Lookout.com from any computer, tablet or phone to:
- Locate your lost or missing device on a map
- Sound a loud alarm to find your lost device if you think it's nearby (even if you left it on silent!)
- Display a custom 'lost' message on your device screen, complete with contact details, to get your  device back faster!
- Restore your contacts to a new device
- Call your missing device over the web from any browser
- Manage your iPhone, iPad or other devices from one account

iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lookout-mobile/id434893913?ls=1&mt=8
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout

Employee Spotlight: Michael Donovan, Remote Engineer  

 

Full name:  Michael Donovan   

 

Where did you grow up: Santa Barbara / Carpinteria

 

When did you move to Santa Barbara:  10 Feb 1982

 

What you like best about Santa Barbara:  The culture and weather

 

When did you start working at CIO:  June 2013

 

What you like best about working at CIO: The family and friend-like atmosphere 

   

Dreams/aspirations:  Still would like to be part of the Fire Department, but I have found something that I have just as much passion for, Technology.

 

What would you do if you won the lottery: Provide an easier life for the big family I am part of 

 

Favorite color:  Blue

 

Favorite food:  Steak and potatoes

 

Favorite movie: BraveHeart

 

Anything else that is interesting about yourself:  I have done many things, I was in the Military and traveled to 3rd world countries w/ the military. I was a military firefighter for 6 years and loved it a lot.     

   

 

CIO Solutions does not knowingly participate in SPAM. If you wish to be removed from this list, please follow the link below and you will be taken off this list. Thank you for your interest in our
e-Newsletter. 
Share