Fifteen billion dollars and still counting. These are the losses estimated by Lloyds of London that were caused by the now famous computer virus the love bug. The virus was created in a run down apartment in Manila, Philippines and let loose. Faster than the proverbial forest fire the virus circled the globe in just two hours.

Unlike most diseases of yore this pesky virus came in a tempting gift-wrap. Three breathless words, ILOVEYOU, written without any pauses, were enough to tempt a multitude from China to New York. Most of those affected saw no harm indulging in a bit of cyber flirting. Who could have thought that it was a repeat performance, albeit more devastating one, of the Mellisa virus that caused havoc last year?

Or they might have thought it was a message similar to the ones most peoples get in their e-mails. Some Candy or Jennifer would send an e-mail announcing she has just turned eighteen and is now ready to tango. Just click on the cyber address and through automatic links get lost in this later day version of the Arabian Nights. Other unsolicited e-mails that offer help in starting home business, award university diplomas without going to school or guaranteeing the loss of 2 to 4 inches in one hour (yes in one hour) are just not exciting any more.

We mortals are prone to temptations in our daily lives. So it was surprising and disheartening to learn that the reasonable folks at the Pentagon and the CIA also fell for the love bug. Doesn't their reputation and our safety rests on their ability to make war not love?

In the end they turned out to be no different than the most of us. The real surprise was the White House where no one succumbed to temptation. It seems that in the wake of the Starr investigation every one has been on best behavior. Mr. Clinton, it was reported, seldom checks his e-mail. Repentance and abstinence does lead to redemption. Or so it appears.

One can not help but admire the ingenuity of the young man who created the virus and then unleashed it. Equally fascinating was the work of cyber sleuths who traced the virus to a particular computer in the Philippines. Like some mysterious diseases that leave their clues in casual parenthesis for keen observers, the cyber viruses leave their footprints in their travels across the globe. These were the footprints, inconspicuous to the uninitiated that led the hounds to the culprit.

The experts tell us that the only sure way to safe guard against the computer virus is not to open any files sent as an attachment. Some people routinely send the attachments back without opening it and ask that the attachment be sent as part of the e-mail text. No more family pictures or music tunes for them.

One way out of the bug-infested cyber mail would be to revert back to old fashion letter writing. E-mail is a poor and distant substitute to a well-written personal letter. There are other advantages too. No one can transmit a virus through snail mail. And even if one could, the virus would eventually end up in a stack of musty letters in the attic. It would not gobble up other material and it would not be able to reproduce and send itself to others.

I know it is too much to ask. So for the die hard cyber jockeys it is worthwhile to remember that while it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to resist temptation, the cost of such temptations can be very high. Just ask Lloyds of London.