Valentine’s Day Worm Email…

I am signed up to receive alerts and security notifications from the FBI and CERT when there are potential threats to Internet and email security, this one came down today and I have heard a lot of buzz about it the past few days so I thought that it was worthy to post a note here about it, I am not typically a fan of forwarding emails about potential viruses, etc., so I figured I would post this message here, take heed and don’t fall victim to this thing:

Typically by the time people get around to their email to warn friends about an email bug or virus that’s gaining widespread status, anti-virus and malware protection software providers have already pushed out updates to users desktop applications that will protect their subscribers from the threat, sometimes emails are still floating around warning of viruses that are a year old if not older and causing a lot of un-needed distress, sorry for the rant but it’s one of my pet peeves.  The only reason I am giving merit to this one is because it has been sent to me from two reliable sources, the FBI and the BBB (Better Business Bureau), and oh yeah, my mom forwarded me a note about it this morning.  I would say that the word is probably already out on this thing. 🙂 

Internet Alert: St. Valentine’s Day E-Card Carries Storm Worm Virus

If you unexpectedly receive a Valentine’s Day e-card, be careful. It may not be from a secret admirer, but instead might contain the Storm Worm virus.

With the holiday approaching, be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware). The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to retrieve the electronic greeting card (e-card). Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet-connected device and causes it to become infected and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.

The Storm Worm virus has capitalized on various holidays in the last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail. Valentine’s Day has been identified as the next target.

Be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender.
Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do not click on any links provided in these e-mails.