attachments and links in emails leveraging message subject lines such as 'I Love You Soo Much;' 'Inside My Heart;' or 'You… In My Dreams;' 'My Valentine Sunshine;' and, 'Be My Valentine,' to exploit unsuspecting targets. Once these attachments were opened or the links were clicked, malware were instantly downloaded.

According to Cyberoam partner Commtouch, the Valentine's Day spam campaigns began mid-January in mid-level volumes and were generated from zombies. The messages were only around 2k, many with hyperlinks to an IP address, an indicator of a zombie-attack. The success of these attacks were dependent on social engineering techniques that were targeting a younger demographic, particularly students and teenagers that would use the Internet to buy discounted Valentine's gifts, flowers and send e-cards.

"Spammers are renowned for tying large-scale spam attacks to significant holidays and events, so it's important for organizations to warn employees and students against opening emails from people you don't know," says Digvijaysinh Chudasama, VP Sales, Cyberoam, India , "As these attacks can happen at any time of the year, we strongly recommend that all organizations ensure their security solutions are up to date to recognize and block potentially harmful files. Organizations should also look to set user-based policies for Internet access to ensure that employees and students aren't able to visit Web sites that could be potentially laden with malware."