Valentine’s Day spam targets kids and parents

Valentine’s Day is this weekend. A day for love. A day for romance. A day for malware? Apparently so. When I mention “malware” in a room with everyday people, their eyes glaze over and they change the subject. Makes me wonder if people actually know (or care ) what malware is. It occurred to me that perhaps an explanation was in order.
According to wikipedia, malware “is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent.” Unfortunately, malware is hiding out in a multitude of places on the internet and you never know when you download it. If your computer isn’t protected, the simplest tasks could be putting your computer at risk.
So, back to Valentine’s day…we all have one of those friends that sends out those cute emails, with the pictures of the puppies, right? They send those emails that tug on your heartstrings and make you want to forward it on to all of your address book, right? The name for those people is “frammers” because they are friends that send SPAM. Well, did you have any idea that sometimes those cute pictures contain malware? According to McAfee Avert Labs, the first flood of Valentine’s SPAM and e-cards were sent as early as January 22 this year and has continued to increase steadily.
Here are some new Valentine’s Day spam examples.

The current wave (continue reading...)