Children have become the latest target for virus writers with the appearance of a worm that exploits the Pokemon character Pikachu.

The W32/Pikachu-A worm, also known as Pokemon, I-Worm.Pikachu, Pokey.bat, and Pokey, propagates as an email file attachment called pikachupokemon.exe. When executed, the program displays an animation of the Pokemon character while deleting the contents of your Windows and Windows\system directories.

Only systems running Outlook are affected and the worm will not run on Outlook Express.

The subject of the email is Pikachu Pokemon and the body reads: Great Friend! Pikachu from Pokemon Theme have some friendly words to say. Visit Pikachu at http://www.pikachu.com. See you.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at UK antivirus company Sophos, said he has seen very few reports of this virus in the wild, although there had been some recent infections in Asia.

"It has been around for a couple of months, so as long as your antivirus software is up to date it shouldn't be a problem. I think this Pikachu/Pokemon virus is another example of virus writers using psychology to help spread their viruses further," he said.

To safely view the image displayed by the virus, visit http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/analyses/w32pikachua.html.