According to the IC3, the e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to retrieve the electronic greeting card (e-card). Clicking on the link, would download the malware to the Internet-connected device and infects it making it a part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets carryout criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.
The IC3 stated that the Storm Worm virus had taken advantage of various holidays in the previous 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.
The IC3 warns users to be wary of any e-mail received from an unknown sender. Users should also not open any unsolicited e-mail and should not click on any links provided.
Websense Security Labs has also received reports and confirmed that the storm worm has adopted a Valentine's Day twist in its attempts to infect users with malicious code.