Maersk Alabama Piracy: The Whole Story

The seizing and subsequent rescue of the Maersk Alabama and its crew is one of the most incredible and compelling stories of our time. Until now, the information has been sketchy at best. The article, below, is an insightful account that tells the full story from start to finish, including background information. It was written by a former naval officer who gathered his information from conversations with military colleagues close to the operation. I cannot validate the authenticity of this information. I submit it to you for your review. There were many heroes in this story. We've already hailed Captain Phillips and the Navy SEALS as heroes. But the crew of the Alabama were, also, heroes. As you'll see in the article, they had a plan they executed with precision and bravery when their ship was boarded by the pirates.

I find it noteworthy that our Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama, felt it necessary to "play politics" throughout the incident. Among other things, this resulted in two opportunities to take out the pirates being disapproved. Once again, our military did a fantastic job under the most difficult conditions and despite political interference from the highest levels of our government.

MV ALABAMA PIRACY: THE WHOLE STORY

BACKGROUND

In Africa from Djibouti at the southern end of the Red Sea eastward through the Gulf of Aden to round Cape Guardafui at the easternmost tip of Africa (also known as "The Horn of Africa") is about a 600 nm transit before you stand out into the Indian Ocean. That transit is comparable in distance to that from the mouth of the Mississippi at New Orleans to the tip of Florida at Key West-- except that 600 nm over there is infested with Somalia pirates.

Ships turning southward at the Horn of Africa transit the SLOC (Sea Lane of Commerce) along the east coast of Somalia because of the prevailing southerly currents there. It's about 1,500 nm on to Mombassa, which is just south of the equator in Kenya. Comparably, that's about the transit distance from Portland Maine down the east coast of the US to Miami Florida. In other words, the ocean area being patrolled by our naval forces off the coast of Somalia is comparable to that in the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River east to Miami then up the eastern seaboard to Maine. Second, let me globally orient you from our Naval Operating Base in Norfolk, VA, east across the Atlantic to North Africa, thence across the Med to Suez in Egypt, thence southward down the Red Sea to Djibouti at the Gulf of Aden, thence eastward to round Cape Guardafui at the easternmost tip of Africa, and thence southerly some 300 miles down the east cost of Somali out into the high seas of the Indian Ocean to the position of MV [Maersk Vessel] ALABAMA is a little more than 7,000 nm, and plus-nine time-zones ahead of EST.

Hold that thought, in that, a C-17 transport averaging a little better than 400 kts takes the best part of 18 hours to make that trip. In the evening darkness late THURSDAY NIGHT, a team of Navy SEALs from NSWC (Naval Surface Warfare Center) Norfolk parachuted from such a C-17 into the black waters (no refraction of light) of the Indian Ocean-- close-aboard to our 40,000 ton amphibious assault ship, USS BOXER (LHD 4), the flagship of our ESG (Expeditionary Strike Group) in the AOR (Area Of Responsibility, the Gulf of Aden). They not only parachuted in with all of their "equipment," they had their own inflatable boats, RHIB's (Rigid Hull, Inflatable Boats) with them for over-water transport. They went into BOXER's landing dock, debarked, and staged for the rescue-- Thursday night.

And, let me comment on time-late: In that the SEAL's quick response-- departing ready-alert in less than 4 hours from Norfolk-- supposedly surprised POTUS's [President of the United States] staff, whereas President Obama was miffed not to get his "cops" there before the Navy. He reportedly questioned his staff, "Will 'my' FBI people get there before the Navy does?" It took the FBI almost 12 hours to put together a team and get them packed-up-- for an "at sea" rescue. The FBI was trying to tell him that they are not practiced to do this-- Navy SEALs are. But, BHO [?] wanted the FBI there "to help," that is, carry out the Attorney General's (his) orders to negotiate the release of Captain Phillips peacefully-- because apparently he doesn't trust GW's [George W. Bush's] military to carry out his "political guidance." The flight of the FBI's passenger jet took a little less than 14 hours at 500-some knots to get to Djibouti. BOXER'S helos picked them up and transported them out to the ship. The Navy SEALs were already there, staged, and ready to act by the time POTUS's FBI arrived on board later that evening. Notably, the first request by the OSC (On Scene Commander) that early Friday morning to take them out and save Captain Phillips was denied, to wit: "No, wait until 'my' FBI people get there." Third, please consider a candid assessment of ability that finds that the FBI snipers had never practiced shooting from a rolling, pitching, yawing, surging, swaying, heaving platform-- and, target-- such as a ship and a lifeboat on the high seas. Navies have been doing since Admiral Nelson who had trained "Marines" to shoot muskets from the ship's rigging-- ironically, he was killed at sea in HMS VICTORY at the Battle of Trafalgar by a French Marine rifleman that shot him from the rigging of the French ship that they were grappling alongside.

Notably, when I was first training at USNA in 1955, the Navy was doing it with a SATU, Small Arms Training Unit... Navy SEALs...do that training now, and hone their skills professionally-- daily. Shooting small arms from a ship is more of an accomplished "Art Form" than it is a practiced skill. When you are "in the bubble" and "in tune" with the harmonic motion you find, through practice, that you are "able to put three .308 slugs INSIDE THE HEAD OF A QUARTER AT 100 METERS, in day or night-- or, behind a camouflaged net or a thin enclosure, such as a superstructure bulkhead. Yes, we have the monocular scopes that can "see" heat-- and, draw a bead on it. SEALs are absolutely expert at it-- with the movie clips to prove it.

Okay, now try to imagine patrolling among the boats fishing everyday out on the Grand Banks off our New England coast, and then responding to a distress call from down around the waters between Florida and the Bahamas. Three points for you to consider here: (1) Time-Distance-Speed relationships for ships on the high seas, for instance, at a 25-knot SOA (Speed Of Advance) it takes 24 hours to make good 600 nm-- BAINBRIDGE did. (2) Fishermen work on the high seas, and (3) The best place to hide as a "fisherman" pirate is among other fishermen.

THE REAL STORY

Early Wednesday morning, 4/8/2009, MV ALABAMA is at sea in the IO [Indian Ocean] about 300 miles off the (east) coast of Somalia en route to Mombassa Kenya. Pirates in small boat start harassing her, and threatening her with weapons. MV ALABAMA's captain sent out the distress call by radio, and ordered his Engineer to shut down the engines as well as the ship-service electrical generators-- in our lingo, "Go dark and cold." He informed his crew by radio what was happening, and ordered them to go to an out-of-the-way compartment and lock themselves in it-- from the inside. He would stay in the pilot house to "negotiate" with the pirates.

The pirates boarded, captured the Captain, and ordered him to start the engines. He said he would order his Engineer to do so, and he called down to Engine Control on the internal communication system, but got no answer. The lead pirate ordered two of his four men to go down and find him and get the engines started.

Inside a ship without any lights is like the definition of dark. The advantage goes to the people who work and live there. They jumped the two pirates in a dark passageway. Both pirates lost their weapons, but one managed to scramble and get away. The other they tied up, put tape over his mouth and a knife at his throat.

Other members of the crew opened the drain cocks on the pirates boat and cast it adrift. It foundered and sunk. The scrambling pirate made it back to the pilot house and told of his demise. The pirates took the Captain at gun point, and told him to launch one of his rescue boats (not a life boat, per se). As he was lowering the boat for them, the crew appeared with the other pirate to negotiate a trade. The crew let their hostage go too soon, and the pirates kept the captain. But, he purposefully had lowered the boat so it would jam.

With the rescue boat jammed, the pirates jumped over to a lifeboat and released it as the captain jumped in the water. They fired at him, made him stop, and grabbed him out of the water. Now, as night falls in the vastness of the Indian Ocean, we have the classic "Mexican" standoff, to wit: A life-boat that is just that, a life-boat adrift without any means of propulsion except oars and paddles; and, a huge (by comparison) Motor Vessel Container Ship adrift with a crew that is not going to leave their captain behind. The pirates are enclosed under its shelter-covering, holding the captain as their hostage. The crew is hunkered down in their ship waiting for the "posse" to arrive.

After receiving MV ALABAMA'S distress call, USS BAINBRIDGE (DDG 96) was dispatched by the ESG commander to respond to ALABAMA's distress call. At best sustainable speed, she arrived on scene the day after-- that is, in the dark of that early Thursday morning. As BAINBRIDGE quietly and slowly, at darkened-ship without any lights to give her away, arrived on scene, please consider a recorded interview with the Chief Engineer of MV ALABAMA describing BAINBRIDGE's arrival. He said it was something else "... to see the Navy slide in there like a greyhound!" He then said as she slipped in closer he could see the "Stars and Stripes" flying from her masthead. He got choked up saying it was the "...proudest moment of my life."

Phew! Let that sink in.

Earlier in the day, one of the U.S. Navy's Maritime Patrol Aircraft, a fixed wing P3C, flew over to recon the scene. They dropped a buoy with a radio to the pirates so that the Navy's interpreter could talk with the pirates. When BAINBRIDGE arrived, the pirates thought the radio to be a beaconing device, and threw it overboard. They wanted a satellite telephone so that they could call home for help. Remember now, they are fishermen, not "Rocket Scientists," in that, they don't know that we can intercept the phone transmission also.

MV ALABAMA provided them with a satellite phone. They called home back to "somebody" in Eyl Somalia (so that we now know where you live) to come out and get them. The "somebody" in Eyl said they would be out right away with other hostages, like 54 of them from other countries, and that they would be coming out in two of their pirated ships. Right-- and, the tooth fairy will let you have sex with her. Yea, in paradise. The "somebody" in Eyl just chalked up four more expendables as overhead for "the cost of operation." Next page.

Anyway, ESG will continue to "watch" Eyl for any ships standing out.

The Navy SEAL team...briefed the OSC [On Scene Commander] (Commander Castellano, CO BAINBRIDGE) on how they could rescue the captain from the life boat with swimmers-- "Combat Swimmers," per se. That plan was denied by POTUS because it put the captain in danger-- and, involved killing the pirates.

The FBI negotiators arrived on scene, and talked the pirates into sending their wounded man over for treatment Saturday morning. Later that afternoon, the SEAL's sent over their RHIB with food and water to recon the life boat but the pirates shot at it. They could have taken them out then (from being fired upon) but were denied again being told that the captain was not in "imminent danger." The FBI negotiators calmed the situation by informing the pirates of threatening weather as they could see storm clouds closing from the horizon, and offered to tow the life boat. The pirates agreed, and BAINBRIDGE took them under tow in their wake at 30 meters-- exactly 30 meters, which is exactly the distance the SEALs practice their shooting skills.

With the lifeboat under tow, riding comfortably bow-down on BAINBRIDGE's wake-wave ("rooster tail"), had a 17-second period of harmonic motion, and at the end of every half-period (8.5 seconds) was steady on. The light-enhanced (infra-red heat) monocular scopes on the SEAL's .308 caliber Mark 11 Mod 0 H&K suppressor-fitted sniper rifles easily imaged their target very clearly. Pirates in a life boat at 30-meters could be compared to fish in a barrel. All that was necessary was to take out the plexiglass window so that it would not deflect the trajectory of the high velocity .308 round. So, a sniper (one of four) with a wad-cutter round (a flaxen sabot) would take out the window a split second before the kill-shot-- no change in sight-picture, just the window blowing out, clean.

Now, here's the part BHO's "whiz kids" knew as well as the Navy hierarchy, including CO BAINBRIDGE and CO SEAL TEAM. It's the law in Article 19 of Appendix L in the "Convention of the High Seas" that the Commanding Officer of a US Ship on the high seas is obligated to respond to distress signals from any flagged ship (US or otherwise), and protect the life and property thereof when deemed to be in IMMINENT DANGER. So, in the final analysis, it would be Captain Castellano's call as to "Imminent Danger," and that he alone was obligated (duty bound) to act accordingly.

Got the picture?

After medically attending to the wounded pirate, and feeding him, come first light (from the east) on Easter Sunday morning and the pirates saw they were being towed further out to sea (instead of westward toward land), the wounded pirate demanded to be returned to the lifeboat. There would BE NO more negotiations-- and, the four Navy SEAL snipers "in the bubble" went "Unlock." The pirate holding Captain Philips raised the gun to his head, and IMMINENT DANGER was so observed and noted in the Log as CO BAINBRIDGE gave the classic order: WEAPONS RELEASED! I can hear the echo in my earpiece now, "On my count (from 8.5 seconds), 3, 2, 1, !" POP, BANG! Out went the window, followed by three simultaneous shots. The scoreboard flashed: "GAME OVER, GAME OVER-- NAVY 3, PIRATES 0!"

I hope you found the above informative as best I know it-- and, please excuse me in that after more than 50 years the Navy is still in me. I submit that AMERICA is going to make a comeback, and more than likely it'll be on the back of our cherished youth serving with honor in Our military. So, let's

Look Up, Get Up-- and, Never Give Up!

God Bless Our Troops, and
GOD SAVE AMERICA!
Buddy Wellborn, USNA Class of 1959
Dickinson, Texas

High Flight: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Do you remember when television stations did not broadcast 24 hours a day? If you stayed up very late back then, you may remember that, at the end of the broadcast day, they signed off with patriotic videos. These videos were, generally, scenes across America or tributes to the military with the STAR SPANGLED BANNER, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL or TAPS in the background.

While they all were uplifting, I found one version very special to me. It moved me as a child, and it became even more special to me as I pursued my dream to become a pilot and during my subsequent career as a pilot. That sign off was the HIGH FLIGHT video. That video showed a jet flying while HIGH FLIGHT, the poem by Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot, J0hn Gillespie Magee, Jr, was recited. Several editions of the video were aired over the years. The first edition featured a Lockheed F-104, Starfighter, which was a favorite fighter of mine as a boy growing up. Later versions were produced featuring other aircraft. My favorite edition, by far, was the one that featured the Nortrop T-38, Talon.

The T-38 has been the Air Force's supersonic trainer for well over 40 years, now. Until recently, every Air Force officer that earned his pilot wings flew the T-38. With its pure white paint scheme and sleek design, I believe the T-38 was the most beautiful airplane ever built... and still is to this day! I remember getting chills watching it knife through the clear blue skies at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma, where I attended Pilot Training as a young Lieutenant, hoping to earn my wings. Anyone who has been to my home has seen the T-38 painting by world renowned artist, Rick Broome, hanging prominently over the mantle of my fireplace.

When I watched the HIGH FLIGHT video with its breathtaking flying scenes, I, actually, relived the excitement and exhilaration I experienced each time I strapped myself into that jet. And combining those breathtaking flying scenes with the immortal words of John Gillespie Magee, Jr in his poem, HIGH FLIGHT, left me choked up.

Recently, I had the good fortune to find a copy of the T-38 HIGH FLIGHT video. You can experience the thrill and exhilaration of flight that I and a privileged few have. Turn up your computer volume, click on the link, below, and experience the wonder of flight. I suggest selecting "Full Screen".

High Flight Video

Note: You may need to download and install "Real Player" (free version) to view this video. Free Real Player Download

Never Judge a Book by Its Cover

On 11 April 2009, a woman named Susan Boyle appeared on the show, BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT. She was a frumpy 47 year old woman from a small village in Scotland who claimed she'd never been married and never been kissed. Her dream was to be a professional singer. As the three judges interviewed her, everyone snickered. She was sure to embarrass herself. When the first bar of music left her mouth, every jaw in the place hit the floor. Turn your computer volume WAY up, click on the link, below, and watch one of the most uplifting videos I have ever seen. You may even notice a tear in your eye. Never give up on your dreams! This video is a MUST SEE!

Susan Boyle: I Dreamed a Dream

Solid State Drive: Replacing the Hard Drive?

A new technology for computer drives, the Solid State Drive (SSD), may be replacing the Hard Drive in a computer near you. According to a fascinating article in SMART COMPUTING MAGAZINE, A Solid Future: SSDs Are Making Life Hard For Hard Drives, by Marty Sems, this new technology has significant benefits over the conventional Hard Drive, and is already available in some laptops. Some of its advantages include no moving parts, faster read capabilities and lower power usage. Drawbacks include higher cost and slower write speed. Below, Mr. Sems enumerates the SSD's advantages:

Because SSDs don’t have any moving parts, they’re silent, and they can survive more abuse than a hard drive without losing data or failing outright. Hard drives are especially vulnerable when they’re operating because their read/write heads are floating just a tiny fraction of an inch above their spinning disks. A good knock while a hard drive is running can cause the heads to slap the disks, scraping off parts of the magnetic data recording layers and destroying the data stored there. In comparison, SSDs are just as resistant to physical shocks when they’re turned on as when they’re powered down. That makes solid-state drives very attractive to notebook users, not to mention military and industrial users.

A side effect of an SSD’s solid-state nature is the fact that it takes less power to run one than it does to turn a hard drive’s motor and wave its read/write heads to and fro. This potentially translates into longer battery life for laptops, as well as markedly lower electricity bills for data centers and server farms. SSDs also emit less heat than most hard drives, saving laptops even more power on fan usage and data centers big bucks on air conditioning.

Another boon of the SSD boom is performance, at least in certain cases. You won’t notice a solid-state drive’s incredible random-access speed when you’re using an SSD-based laptop or desktop, although it can make things much faster for a large group of users all accessing a database or Web server at the same time. Still, a select few SSDs have read speeds twice as fast as the best hard drives. Flash’s weakness is its relatively slow write speeds, but even these can be competitive with laptop and sometimes desktop hard drives.

Hard drives have a limited range of temperatures in which they’re designed to work; this is another liability of their moving parts. What’s more, you’re not supposed to use a hard drive for an hour or more after bringing it into a warm room from the cold outdoors. The trouble is that the water vapor in the warm room’s air might condense on the frigid disks inside the drive. If the drive hasn’t dried out before it’s turned on, the droplets of water could spell disaster for the read/write heads. SSDs not only have a broader range of operating temperatures, but they also don’t care about sudden environmental changes, either.

There’s one more benefit to SSDs that might interest you: You don’t need to defragment them. A hard drive stores files in contiguous chunks when it can, but scatters pieces of files here and there when there isn’t a big stretch of free space to be found. This fragmentation slows down data throughput, as the drive must move its heads to locate every bit of a file while its disks spin around and around. In an SSD’s case, the drive reads scattered file fragments from unmoving memory chips at the same speed as it reads contiguously stored data.

According to Mr. Sems, the Hard Drive is not going away just yet. But we will, likely, be seeing more of the SSD as time goes on.

Check out the full article by clicking the link, below:

A Solid Future: SSDs Are Making Life Hard For Hard Drives

Secretary of Defense Emasculates the Air Force

Yesterday, Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, released his budget proposal for 2010. At a time when the Federal Government has approved a multi-trillion dollar budget (the largest budget in history) for every sector of the Federal Government, Secretary Gates found it necessary to slash the Air Force budget, killing or radically reducing nearly all its pending force modernization programs. THIS MOVE WILL EMASCULATE OUR FUTURE AIR FORCE!

In an article I posted in June 2008, Firing the SECAF and CSAF: More Than Meets the Eye, I explained that Secretary Gates accused then Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Wynne, and Air Force Chief of Staff, General Michael Moseley, of "planning for the next war" as if that were a crime. He, obviously, did not want them around to testify before the Congress, so he fired them using the recent nuclear incidents as an excuse. Well, now, SECRETARY GATES HAS MADE GOOD ON HIS PHILOSOPHY TO NOT PLAN FOR THE NEXT WAR. Below, is a list of the programs that Secretary Gates' budget will kill or radically reduce:

- F-22 production: Terminated
- Follow-on Bomber: Terminated
- C-17 production: Terminated
- Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter–X: Terminated
- Transformational Satellite (TSAT): Terminated
- Missile Defense: Radically Cut
-- No increase of ground-based interceptors
-- Airborne Laser (ABL): Terminated
-- Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV): Terminated
-- Missile Defense Agency budget: Reduced by $1.4B/year
- 250 aircraft: Retired
-- Equivalent of 3.5 wings: Retired
-- F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s will all leave the force with no replacements

Today, in a note to members, AFA President and CEO, Michael M. Dunn summed up the effect of Secretary Gates' Budget decisions:

• This budget guarantees that the oldest Air Force in the history of our nation will get even older.
• B-52s (built in the 1950s) will have to be kept on duty for a minimum of another 15-20 years …
• At a time when the nation is spending literally trillions of dollars, we seem to not have enough money to fund an adequate defense
• We are using tomorrow's dollars to solve today's problems.
• The acquisition decisions recommended will lock in the range of national security options for decades into the future.
• The decisions are not just programic nuance – but will impact core Air Force functions, to include Air Force ability to deter, to conduct an air campaign, and to rescue our downed Airmen.
• The launch of an intercontinental missile by North Korea this weekend (and a similar launch by Iran 5 weeks ago) argues for a robust missile defense, not a reduced one – to include the ABL. The technology of ABL has the potential to revolutionize warfare in the future.
• It is difficult to determine the strategy which this budget supports. This is especially important since a Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is mandated by law … and will be conducted in the upcoming several months. It seems the budget (and hence the strategy) precedes the QDR.
• This budget increases risk … in my view … beyond so-called "moderate."

AFA believes there are major impacts and consequences … for the full-up joint team. These budget recommendations may cost us lives and will reduce our strategic options in a very dangerous world.

If you are concerned, as I am, for the future viability of our Air Force, the future safety of our airmen and the future security of our nation, WRITE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS AND TELL THEM NOT TO APPROVE THESE DEFENSE CUTS BY SECRETARY GATES. Click the following link to send a letter to Congress: http://www.congress.org/

For more information, read the following articles:
AFA President Note on Defense Budget
Secretary Gates' 2010 Defense Budget Announcement

Humor: Americans With No Abilities Act

Take a break for some humor. The article, below, should bring you a chuckle.

AMERICANS WITH NO ABILITIES ACT

President Barack Obama and the Congress are considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many Americans. The AMERICANS WITH NO ABILITIES ACT is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

"Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society," said California Sen. Barbara Boxer. "We can no longer stand by and allow People of Inability (POI) to be ridiculed and passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply because they have some idea of what they are doing."

In a Capitol Hill press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. Approximately 74 percent of postal employees lack any job skills, making this agency the single largest U.S. employer of Persons With No Ability. And let's not forget the Federal Government which holds the record with 94 percent of its members lacking any usable skills or common sense.

Private-sector industries with good records of non-discrimination against the inept include the financial industry (85 percent), the insurance industry (82 percent), and the news media (65 percent). At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles has an excellent record of hiring Persons With No Ability (71 percent).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million mid-level positions will be created, with important-sounding titles but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense of purpose and performance. Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be given so as to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability (POI) into middle-management positions, and gives a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the Americans With No Abilities Act contains tough new measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, "Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?" "As a non-abled person, I can't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them," said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Michigan, due to her inability to remember the "righty tighty, lefty loosey" rule. "This new law should be real good for people like me." With the passage of this bill, Gertz and millions of other untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Sen. Dick Durbin: "As a senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a good salary for doing so."

*My thanks to Greg Thew for this article (author unknown)
**Minor editing applied to enhance humor

The Conficker Virus: Protecting Your Computer

If you read the newspapers or watch the news, you are aware of the CONFICKER COMPUTER WORM. It is a virus that threatens computers throughout the world. News like this puts fear into the hearts of most of us. Am I vulnerable? What can I do to protect myself? Knowledge is power, so here are a few simple answers.

1. Who is vulnerable? According to my research, any computer running a Windows operating system is vulnerable.

2. What can I do to protect my computer? In today's environment, all computers MUST be protected by a good SECURITY SUITE and a FIREWALL. If you purchased a suite from McAffee, Norton or other security software company, you probably have both. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) include a firewall with their service, and, more and more, ISPs also offer free security suites. Having a security suite and firewall is not enough, however. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU KEEP YOUR SYSTEMS UPDATED. Be sure you have the latest Windows security updates and the latest updates to your security suites. If you haven't recently done so, go to your computer's Windows Update prompt and run it. Then open your security suite and run its update to ensure your security software and virus definintions are updated to the latest versions.

3. What else can I do? Lastly, NEVER OPEN AN E-MAIL ATTACHMENT FROM SOMEONE YOU DO NOT KNOW AND TRUST. Opening e-mail attachments and unknown programs is the most common method of computer virus propagation. But, understand, just because you know and trust the sender of an e-mail attachment does not make it safe. That person's computer could be infected with a virus that sends e-mails with malicious attachments without the owner's knowledge, and that is why you need to complete the actions listed above.

According to my research, if your computer has the LATEST WINDOWS UPDATES and CURRENT VERSIONS of a SECURITY SOFTWARE and FIREWALL, you should be safe. For more information, read the Microsoft article about the Conficker virus at the website, below.

Protect Yourself from the Conficker Computer Worm