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FBI Warns Of Valentine's Day E-Mail Virus


Mark Manching

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Watch Out For "Storm Worm"

First it was worms in your chocolate. Now it's worms in your e-mail.

The FBI Tuesday issued a warning that a malicious e-mail virus concealing itself in what appears to be a Valentine's Day e-card is spreading across the Internet.

With the romantic holiday just two days away, officials believe the "Storm Worm" virus will be making its rounds and causing headaches for many, reported CBS station WCBS-TV in New York.

In the e-mail, recipients are told they've been sent a special Valentine's Day greeting from a secret admirer. They're instructed to click on a link in the e-mail to retrieve the greeting, but instead of receiving encouraging words of love, they'll instantly download the troublesome software.

The virus connects the recipient to the "Storm Worm botnet," a network controlled by the creator of the virus.

Botnets allow the crooked e-mailer to engage in online crime including identity theft, denial of service attacks, sending of spam e-mail, and spreading the virus to others.

The FBI warns e-mailers not to open e-mail from unknown senders or click on any links inside the e-mails if they do.

The Storm Worm virus has cropped its ugly head up several times in the last year, capitalizing on other holidays and working in a similar fashion.

Original Source

Happy Valentines!

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Storm worm has been around for a few years. It just gets more agressive around now because its tact is to infect with subjects relating to the holidays.

http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3724966

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3696101

http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=3916&rss

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yes because I often download and run e-mail from people I don't know

Or from people you know who are infected...

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it's not even 1337 this is basic stuff n00bs should know

QFE

Its internet 101!

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I think most of us on the forums know not to open up an e-mail from someone who you don't even know, who is talking about how they love you in the subject.  Still the idea of hackers using this date as a way of exploiting a social holiday is something we should know.  That way we can educate the non computer literate.

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I think most of us on the forums know not to open up an e-mail from someone who you don't even know, who is talking about how they love you in the subject.  Still the idea of hackers using this date as a way of exploiting a social holiday is something we should know.  That way we can educate the non computer literate.

"It's like he's trying to speak to me I know it..."

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I open up all my email on a un-patched windows ME laptop while smoking and wandering across roads during rush hour.

windows ME, LOL. You are a bad ass...watch out people.

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but ie is so cool, when you go on certain websites,  it doesnt bother you with the warning window asking if you want to install

it just auto installs with no windows or anything (because IE just assumes that we all want that crap)  :)  that way your not bothered by anything asking you if you would like to install spydawn

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I open up all my email on a un-patched windows ME laptop while smoking and wandering across roads during rush hour.
i doubt thats risky it'll crash before it has time to get infected imho ....

anyway loving the sarcasm ^^

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