PETALING JAYA: The Symantec Antivirus Research Centre (SARC) has issued a warning about a new strain of a worm virus which it said has the potential to destroy files on PCs.

The Worm.ExploreZip virus was first detected in the wild on June 6, after which it was handed over to SARC.

The spread of this particular strain has since been quick, with reports of its emergence in countries around the globe, SARC said in a statement yesterday.

The worm uses MAPI-capable (message application programming interface) e-mail programs running on Microsoft's Windows operating system to spread itself.

It does this by sending copies of itself to other Internet users as an attachment called "zipped_files.exe."

The body of the message may seem harmless enough, like "I received your e-mail and I shall send you a reply ASAP, but could you take a look at the attached zipped documents."

If the intended victim activates the file, a copy is made and stored in the c:?windows?system directory. This copy will then proceed to alter the Win.INI file and harvest more e-mail addresses, which then begin the process again.

SARC is currently making available a virus definition to detect the new worm. These new definitions can be found at ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/englishuscanada/antivirusdefinitions/norton antivirus/specdef/.

For more info, check www.sarc.com.