Vigilante worm hits music pirates

But although the worm, originating from France, seems designed to attack people illegally making copies of music files, industry experts have hit out at such vigilate tactics.

"The internet is swamped with people pirating movies and music, costing the entertainment industry millions each year," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at anti-virus company Sophos. "The Nopir.B worm targets people it believes may be involved in piracy, but fails to discriminate between the true criminals and those who may have legally obtained MP3 files."

"Whichever side of the fence you come down on in regards to internet piracy, there's no debate about the criminal nature of this worm," Cluley added.

Earlier this month SC reported a new, destructive, mobile phone virus could cause damage if distributed through peer-to-peer networks. Fontal.A attacks Series 60 Nokia handsets and causes them to crash if infected.

www.sophos.com