E-mails that contain a virus variously known as known as Kama Sutra, Nyxem or MyWife-dot-E are set to attack computers Friday.

The highly destructive worm attempts to disable security software programs intended to protect the computer and overwrite and permanently corrupt files ranging from Word and Excel documents to P-D-F's of digital family photos.

You have to open a file or e-mail attachment to activate the worm. Sereniti, Incorporated, a home computer security and networking service provider, says the best protection is not to open an e-mail or an attachment that's not familiar.

Other steps you can take to protect yourself include making sure the anti-virus program protecting your computer is up-to-date, using a properly-installed Internet firewall and updating your P-C security software and running a virus scan immediately