Computer Associates issued a warning today about a precarious new polymorphic virus that spreads by attaching to outgoing Microsoft Outlook E-mail. Similar to the rash of recent "Love" viruses, this new virus, named Cybernet, attacks Microsoft Outlook, but it limits itself to 50 names in the address book.

"Cybernet has been reported in the field, and CA virus researchers are monitoring the situation closely," the company says.

According to CA, the infected E-mail arrives with a subject line "You've Got mail!!!" and the enclosed message reads, "please, saved [SIC] the document after you read and don't show to anyone else. This document is also VIRUS FREE ... so DISREGARD the virus protection warning!!!"

Users who follow that advice will find the attachment tries to format their hard drive after their next reboot, CA warns.

"Cybernet is reminiscent of the Melissa virus and has been awarded a medium risk by CA's antivirus staff," the company said in a statement. "It has the potential to overload E-mail servers due to the volume of mail sent out automatically. Unlike the VBS worms recently discovered, Cybernet infects Microsoft Word and Excel files."