A new virus capable of completely disabling a PC by destroying its flash BIOS has been discovered by researchers.

The virus won't execute until Dec. 25, however it could provide a very unpleasant holiday surprise to PC users without anti-virus programs.

The author of Win32.Kriz, may have an ax to grind against organized religion. Inside the virus is a text string with a poem full of expletives criticizing those who follow conventional religious doctrines.

Victims of the virus - who can be anyone using Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows NT - may face destruction of their CMOS memory, overwriting of data in all files on all available drives, and then corruption of their flash BIOS.

The full story is online at www.zdnn.com .