Warning: Valentine's Day a Hit with Virus Writers

Watch out, young lovers: Valentine's Day is a big holiday for more than florists and chocolatiers. It's also one of the biggest days for virus distribution, so be extra vigilant when opening emails today, especially those claiming to profess their love for you.

The FBI is especially warning computer users about the Storm virus, which first emerged over a year ago. Storm is spread, among other methods, through email via links that purport to go to an online greeting card or virus-laden attachments. When the user clicks on the link or opens the attachment, he or she instead gets a virus automatically installed. That virus then gives remote control of your computer to another user over the internet, turning your PC into a "zombie."

Storm is hardly the first virus to take advantage of those hopeful for romance. The ILOVEYOU worm, which emerged in 2000, promised users that a love letter was waiting for them in an attached email. In reality, the worm, when opened, would send thousands of emails to other users, crippling mail servers while overwriting files on user's computers. It was ultimately estimated to have done some $5.5 billion in damages.

Be on the lookout today for any email with a ".exe" attachment, and don't open it. (Thankfully, most modern email clients will block exe files.) Common Storm virus file names include ecard.exe, Postcard.exe, GreetingPostcard.exe, love.exe, iheartyou.exe, and other similar phrases. Same goes for strange links to any website you don't already know. Do not open the mail, and don't click the links. Delete these messages on sight and eat a piece of chocolate instead.