In a new twist reported by BBC News, a recent virus (called the AVF Virus) is finding its way around the net that opens up a back door for spammers to send their spam from infected machines.

The virus appears to be a classic Trojan horse program, but in an email installer instead of a direct executable, and (of course) affects only Microsoft Windows computers.

Most of the anti-virus companies are considering it a low threat, but it may be a harbinger of future attempts to abscond with your computer for spamming purposes.