Now you have another reason to be irritated by the pop-up paper clip that many Microsoft programs use to give help and advice to users.

Security experts have found a security hole that could be used by malicious hackers to subvert the paper clip and turn it against users.

Usually the screen-tapping paper clip turns up in Microsoft Office programs when people press F1 with a query.

One option for confused computer users is "Show Me" in which the paper clip walks them through the menu options to complete a task.

But in order to offer help and show users how to carry out some tasks, the Office Assistant is given privileged access to the workings of the Microsoft software.

Security settings

The clip can launch macros, small programs, on behalf of users and take control of the PC. Now a hacker known as Dildog has found that this ability can be hijacked.

The Love Bug virus that caused havoc around the world earlier this month exploited a similar weakness.