Cheeky virus writers have put a secret message in the latest versions of the MyDoom e-mail worm asking antivirus vendors for a job. MyDoom.V and MyDoom.U contain a malicious e-mail attachment that attempts to download a backdoor Trojan horse called Surila if the recipient tries to open the infected file.

Also secretly embedded inside the malicious code is a message to the antivirus industry: "We searching 4 work in AV industry."

It is not clear if the job request is entirely serious but if the virus authors thought that the antivirus industry would be impressed with their handiwork, they've opened a whole different can of worms.

Graham Clulely, senior technology consultant for antivirus firm Sophos, said no one in the industry would "touch them with a bargepole."

"It's very simple--if you write a virus, we will never, ever employ you," he said in a statement. "Not only is it deeply unethical to write malicious code, but it raises issues as to whether you could ever be trusted to develop the software which protects millions of users around the world from attack every day."

He also said the skills used to write viruses and fight viruses are very different. "Virus writers don't care if their code crashes or causes incompatibilities--you don't have to be a genius to write a virus."