A Valentine's Day e-card could be more than you bargained for

• Tweet

February 12th, 2010 - Posted by Kent

February 14th is Valentine's Day and antivirus pros Trend Micro want to remind you that an E-card can bring more than tidings of love. They can be  bearers of viruses and other malware:

"Last year, the notorious Win32/Waledac Trojan made the rounds on Valentine's Day, downloading itself onto victims' machines and making them accessible to hackers for information harvesting or conscription into zombie armies."

While this makes February 14th sound more like Halloween than Saint Valentine's day, they have a point. Trend Micro advises people to be careful with emails purporting to be E-cards. Legitimate E-cards  are not sent as attachments, they're picked up online. Of course, even a link in an email can be the first step in a phishing or driveby-download scheme.

That doesn't mean you have to ignore these electronic love letters, but it does mean you need to be careful when determining which ones are safe. Blue Mountain has tips on how to identify email notifications that come from them. We think the best way to pick up your E-card is to go directly to the website which provides the E-card and look for a "claim your E-card" link, then enter the claim number found in the email. Remember, don't follow the link in the email. Here's where to go for Blue Mountain, and here's where to go for Hallmark. Other E-card sites can be found in Yahoo!'s E-card directory. If you don't find the provider listed there, it might not be legitimate. Also, no E-card site should need you to enter a password or other personal information to pick up an E-card. If it does, stay away.

While we're on the subject of love, you can show your computer how much you care for it by giving it the virus protection it deserves. It may not protect you from the hazards of love, but it'll help keep you safe online.