It begins with the subject line “School girl fantasies gone bad” in your e-mail, and if your computer is not protected it will corrupt your Microsoft Word files and PowerPoint presentations.

The new computer virus is called Blackworm and, on Friday, infected computers will likely be faced with overwritten and corrupted documents and disabled anti-virus programs. Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES) said protecting users from the virus requires only a few simple steps.

“On campus, we feel quite prepared for it,” said Mike Corn, director for security services and information privacy at CITES.

CITES staff has worked to keep the virus, which spreads itself through e-mail, off of the campus network by writing custom filters to delete infected e-mails before it enters student and faculty inboxes.

Corn said CITES has been deleting approximately 2,000 e-mails a day containing the Blackworm virus.

However the making a user’s computer is safe from the virus requires individual action.

“We always have the problem of people that work at home or on another network . They get infected there and carry that laptop onto campus,” Corn said.

Corn said to protect a user’s home computer, a person should keep their operating system updated, run the free anti-virus and anti-spyware software provided by the University, and activate the computer’s built in firewall.

“The reality is that if you take these basic precautions, this is a non-issue for you,” Corn said. “It really needs to get to the point where it’s like locking your door when you go out.”