Hackers are targeting music lovers by creating a virus that deletes MP3 files on infected computers.

The worm, dubbed Nopir.B and believed to originate from France, lurks on peer-to-peer file-sharing sites. Aimed at people looking for ways to get around copyright restriction technology on paid for music sites, the worm masquerades as a DVD-cracking program in order to fool people into downloading it.

Once downloaded and run, Nopir.B attempts to delete all MP3 music files and wipe other programs from the infected PC according to anti virus developer Sophos.

Although there are few reports of the worm in the wild at the moment, Sophos said it believes the author of the virus may be looking to stamp out music piracy. "The Nopir.B worm targets people it believes may be involved in piracy, but fails to discriminate between the true criminals and those who may have legally obtained MP3 files," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos.

"Whichever side of the fence you come down on in regards to internet piracy, there's no debate about the criminal nature of this worm It's designed to inflict malicious damage on people's Windows computers."

Sophos advises people to make sure they update their anti-virus software.