Alert: Valentine E-Card Carries Storm Worm 'Virus'

With St. Valentine's Day here, you and your IT staff and users should be aware of unexpectedly receiving electronic greeting cards. Be careful, they may not be from secret admirers, but instead could contain Storm Worm malware. These spam spreading Storm Worm malware—incorrectly known as a virus in some quarters—direct recipients to click on links to retrieve these e-cards. Once users click on the links, malware is downloaded to their Internet-connected devices, infecting and making them part of the Storm Worm botnet of compromised machines.

The Storm Worm has capitalized on various holidays in 2007 and 2008 by sending millions of emails advertising electronic links within the text of spam email. The Internet Crime Complaint Center has identified Valentine's Day as the next Storm Worm target.

So be suspicious of any emails received from unknown senders. Remind your users neither to open any unsolicited email nor to click on any links provided. However, if they do, your endpoints could be protected with Check Point Endpoint Security.

And if your users do receive these or similar emails, file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.