April 1, 2008

Gary Warner, the first director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a renowned expert on cybercrime.

An April Fools computer virus is no joke. Warner, says, "The scariest thing is that almost no anti-virus products are currently detecting this virus, which has already been seen more than 100 times in the UAB Spam Data Mine."

The UAB Spam Data Mine has confirmed the Storm Worm distributing an April Fools' Day greeting card. When scanned by 32 different anti-virus products, "foolsday.exe" or "kickme.exe" version of this virus was almost undetected. 

Some examples of subject lines and e-mail bodies that have been found are:

Subject lines:

All Fools' Day
Gotcha!  April Fool!
Happy April Fool's Day.
I am a Fool for your Love
Surprise!  The joke's on you.
Today's Joke!
Wise Men Have Learned More from Fools...

Body of e-mail:

All Fools' Day (link)
Doh!  All's Fool. (link)
Happy April Fool's Day. (link)
Happy April Fools! (link)
I am a Fool for your Love (link)
Join the Laugh-A-Lot! (link)
Surprise!  The joke's on you. (link)

If you get this e-mail, do not click on the link, Warner advises.

To talk to Warner, contact Ginny Smith at 205-934-1676 or ginnys@uab.edu.

NOTE: The University of Alabama is a separate campus in Tuscaloosa. It is incorrect to omit the "at Birmingham." Please use our full name, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, on first reference. UAB is correct for second reference.