Christmas spirit spreads viruses

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, most office workers are likely to send out electronic Christmas cards, cartoons and other festive email entertainment to their colleagues and friends, quite innocently in the name of seasonal spirit.

But security experts are urging users to remain wary of email attachments and are advising workers to refrain from forwarding e-cards.

Graham Cluley, senior technical consultant at Sophos Anti-virus, said: "Offices around the country lose themselves to the 'last term of school' attitude. The festive sprit takes over so people start to misbehave. A lot of people send funny programs to one another and let their guard down when opening attachments. But the risk of deadly viruses increases the minute you reduce your awareness," he warned.

Cluley is also keen to remind the unwary that virus writers have been known to exploit the Christmas theme in the past:

"We have seen viruses with a Christmas theme over the past few years, for instance, viruses disguised as Christmas screen savers," he said.

Jack Clark, product manager at Network Associates (NAI), said companies should set clear guidelines for their end users.

"Most companies should remind employees that corporate email is not to be used for spreading the Christmas spirit before the 'last day of term' attitude kicks in," he said.