The following alert comes from the State of Colorado Chief Security Officer and can impact your computers.  Diligence to prevent viruses on all your business and home systems could make a difference to your business' IT expenses:

With Valentine's Day coming in the next couple of weeks, expect to see malicious virus and worm software popping into email inboxes across the state.  Just like the Dancing Skeletons at Halloween and Singing Elves at Christmas, there are already reports of worms spreading as bait to the naïve and unwary.  

The threat vector for these worms is typically an email with subjects like:
"I Love You Soooo Much ", 'Inside My Heart" , "You're In My Dreams'", "Searching for True Love" or "True Love".   The email may look like a romantic greeting card with a large pink heart in the text of the email and a link to a website, or it may have a file attached named 'friends4u' .   If you click on the link or download the attachment, the dastardly deed is done and the worm will infect your computer and send the same email (with infected worm of course) to all the email contact addresses in the Users computer.

Not only is this embarrassing, it will endear you to all your friends and contacts who you have now infected as well as your poor, overworked System Administrator who must take time out to clean up your computer.  Please take the time to warn your Users of this potential threat.

From the Colorado District Attorney, 18th Judicial District:  Criminals are always looking for new opportunities to take your money, and we expect the impending economic stimulus package being debated in Congress to be a good source of new scams. What we did not expect is for the scams to appear before Congress had finished designing the program. Over twenty (20) consumers in South Carolina have already reported being contacted by person or persons unknown who are offering to automatically deposit the promised tax refund in their bank accounts. The callers have pretended to be with the IRS or the tax department of the Social Security Administration. Of course, if you give your bank account information, nothing will be put in but a lot (if not all) will be taken out. As of this date, we do not have reports of anyone in Colorado who has been victimized, but we know these scams will come to our state.

To protect yourself:

1. Carefully track the news accounts about the economic stimulus program so you know what is happening and when it will begin. Most reports say that payments will not be issued until May or later.

2. If you have any questions about the tax refund program or about any strange contacts you might receive, call your local law enforcement agency or district attorney's office BEFORE you take any action!

3. NEVER give personal information to anyone who contacts you, regardless of who they claim to be.

Once the details of the program are established, a new CONSUMER ALERT will be issued describing how the refunds will be administered.

Need help? Call the Consumer Protection Line: ( 720) 874-8547.

Also known as the Spring Festival or, commonly, Chinese New Year, there are many celebrations in Colorado to commemorate this special holiday, which concludes with the Lantern Festival. The holiday is celebrated with special dinners for the public, given by various Asian community organizations, Lion Dance (or Dragon Dance) performances, visits by friends and family, and the giving of red envelopes with a monetary gift inside. The beginning of the Year of the Rat is February 7, 2008.