Warning: Windows virus set to activate on 3rd February

PC users are warned to scan their PCs before the 3rd of February to avoid being caught out by the Nyxem virus.

Nyxem has infiltrated many computers by disguising itself in an email attachment labelled as pornography. The virus is also known as Blackworm, MyWife, and Kama Sutra amongst others.

On the 3rd of February, the virus is set to delete Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Access, Zip, Photoshop and Acrobat files on infected machines. The virus also tries to protect itself by disabling anti-virus software on infected machines, and disabling the keyboard and mouse.

Home users are thought to be most at risk from viruses, as they are less inclined to regularly patch Windows and update anti-virus software than large businesses.

Virus-scan your PC before the 3rd February to make sure you're not at risk.

If you think you're infected and your regular anti-virus software doesn't remove the problem, F-Secure have a disinfection utility available as a download from their site.