A computer virus named after Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born fugitive accused of masterminding the attacks on the United States, has surfaced in South Korea, a local anti-virus software maker said on Wednesday.

"We received a report from a personal computer user who got an email containing the virus," Jin Yoon-jung, an official at Ahnlab Co Ltd, told Reuters. "His computer was not infected as he reported it to us without opening the email."

Infections do not necessarily cause physical losses such as software destruction but they may slow down the operation of computers and leak information to others if connected via a network, Jin said.

Ahnlab, Korea's top anti-virus company, said it had no idea who had created the mass-mailing worm.

The company advised computer users not to open e-mails with a subject line such as "Bin Laden toilette paper!," "Sadam Hussein & BinLaden IN LOVE" or "Is Osama Bin Laden BAD-LOVED?"

Such emails also contain an attachment titled "BINLADEN-BRASIL.EXE."