The Digital Beat: The myth of the MP3 virus

NEW YORK (Rolling Stone) - I've been getting a lot of emails lately from people concerned about a supposed hole in the popular Winamp software that could let a dastardly virus sneak through. Don't believe the hype.

Here's what happened: An earlier version of Winamp (2.75) was found to have a bug that, ostensibly, could allow a virus writer to do his dirty work inside a Moby file. Nullsoft, the creators of Winamp, acknowledged and fixed the bug for all versions after 2.80 (upgrade now if you haven't already). No reported viruses were found in 2.75 versions after all.

It's worth noting that the only thing more dangerous than a virus is a virus myth. Think of it like a biological virus. The reason you're not scared of the flu is because the flu is familiar. You know it's probably not going to kill you. The worst that might happen is you'll be woozy for an afternoon or two. With the right treatment, you'll get back up on your feet in no time. The same logic can be applied to computer viruses. So why do they still seem so scary? Maybe it's just a matter of time.

After all, human beings have had millions years to learn about their physical bodies, but only a couple decades to digest the vast, international, technological anatomy known as the Internet. When a new computer virus hits, it's no wonder people panic. Imagine contracting the chicken pox in, say, 2,500,000 B.C. Cave dwellers must have surely been freaked.

In the evolutionary history of digital life, May 2000 will go down as the month that early Internet dwellers freaked -- and, seemingly, with good reason. The so-called Love Bug virus hit an estimated 45 million computers, clogging email servers from the Pentagon to the British Parliament. Then -- during the ensuing high-profile manhunt and consumer awareness blitzkrieg -- a meaner, nastier variant known as "New Love" was reported on May 18th. Supposedly, this one would wipe out your entire hard drive. Janet Reno held a breathless press conference. Panic followed. Eight days later on May 26th, there was more news: Another savage was on the loose, sending an evil virus through attachments of a so-called "killer resume."

As it turned out, however, the evil resume didn't deliver doomsday. Neither did New Love. In fact, as Memorial Day weekend progressed, it seemed that most people wouldn't be mourning lost data after all. Despite the fever pitch over the viral onslaught, almost anyone -- you included, I'm guessing -- would be hard pressed to name anyone who actually got eaten by the May Day worms.

Viruses, despite the hype, remain largely innocuous; they don't destroy civilizations and are relatively easy to cure. And -- most importantly -- they're unable to wreak havoc if Net surfers learn to take a few fairly simple steps: use anti-virus software, don't open unknown e-mail attachments and avoid .vbs files (which execute viral scripts) like the plague. Do this and you won't have to worry about anything spoiling your tunes.