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Security company Sophos has released a warning detailing the new email worm, Wurmark-D. The mailing presents itself as a Happy New Year greeting, containing images of nude men and women spelling the salutation out.

According to Sophos:

The W32/Wurmark-D worm (Wurmark-D) travels as an attachment via email. The emails pretend to be a seasonal greeting, and say that an amusing file is attached. When the attached virus is launched the worm displays a graphic image of nude men and women contorting to form the words "HAPPY NEW YEAR", however the malicious worm is secretly installing itself behind the scenes, and forwarding itself to other computer users.

"Once activated this worm will harvest your computer hunting for other email addresses to send itself to, and try and turn off anti-virus software," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Anyone who forgets to exercise caution before running this unsolicited email attachment could be in for a rude awakening."

The mailing also contains an attached zip file that houses the Wurmark worm. Protection from the Wurmark-D consists of keeping Anti-virus definitions up to date and user vigilance.

Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.