Destructive Pandora Virus Plays Toto’s ‘Africa’ on Every Channel

Pandora Internet Radio is still reeling from a suspected virus which hit the site earlier this year and continues to plague the site. The destructive result of the malicious software is that Toto’s “Africa” will play on every single one of 8 billion different customized channels created by the service’s users, whether warranted or not. Engineers have been working around the clock to purge the virus but have thus far been unsuccessful.

The service has been airing short audio segments apologizing for the song’s repeated unnecessary plays. Repeated test runs show that channels seeded with any artist, no matter how relevant or not to Toto or “Africa” itself, will play the song.

An anonymous tech working the issue:

“Lady Gaga Radio, Miley Cyrus Radio, Bruno Mars Radio, Ke$ha Radio, Frank Sinatra Radio, Metallica Radio, Led Zeppelin Radio, Slayer Radio. It doesn’t matter what you pick. Within 30 songs, you get “Africa.” The only workaround is if you create a channel for Toto’s ‘Africa’…in which case, it never plays that song.”

It was initially thought that, due to the insidious nature of the act, that a hundred men or more could have done this, but investigators have recently started to focus on the possibility that it may have been an inside job. Suspicion has centered around former employee Christopher Lantis, who worked on the company’s proprietary song-choosing algorithms. A current employee tipped off authorities about Lantis, stating that he, “doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body. He’s just the one person I’ve ever met who actually likes that song.” At this moment, Lantis has not yet been named a suspect and remains at large.