Merry Virus to you

Antivirus companies warned that a seasonal worm, dubbed Zafi.D, is attacking users in the guise of an e-Christmas card.

The Zafi worm, which has appeared at previous Christmases, travels as an attachment. When opened it displays an error message instead of the card. The worm then uses a Trojan horse program to open a back door that allows hackers to take remote control of infected PCs.

"The timing for this worm is critical," said Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research for F-Secure. "This is a time when people send electric Christmas cards. Sending them is not risky, but receiving them is. We advise people to stay away from them."

F-Secure has listed the worm, which sends a copy of itself to every email address in contact folders, at threat level 2 -- the company's second most dangerous rating.

The worm is able to send itself in multiple languages. For example, email addresses ending .gr would be sent in Greek.

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