Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!esquire!baumgart
From: baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Vaccine vs. Gatekeeper
Keywords: virus Vaccine Gatekeeper
Message-ID: <1630@esquire.UUCP>
Date: 29 Nov 89 14:36:40 GMT
References: <870@pmafire.UUCP> <21506@ut-emx.UUCP>
Sender: news@esquire.UUCP
Reply-To: baumgart@esquire.dpw.com (Steve Baumgarten)
Organization: Davis Polk & Wardwell
Lines: 37
In-reply-to: chrisj@ut-emx.UUCP (Chris Johnson)

In article <21506@ut-emx.UUCP>, chrisj@ut-emx (Chris Johnson) writes:
>On the subject of Vaccine - I recommend Gatekeeper.  I've seen too many
>situations in which Vaccine asked all the right questions to users who
>(quite understandably) had no earthly idea what the answers were.
>Result:  the viruses did very well - the users, in stark contrast, did rather
>poorly.
>
>Beyond that, even if *you* can always be certain which operations are virus
>related and which aren't - it's hard to be certain that everyone who ever
>uses your machine (passing co-workers, friends, family, etc.) will always know
>and provide the right answers to Vaccine's Grant/Deny questions.  One wrong
>answer and you've got a problem.

I have to agree with Chris.  Even though I think of myself as very
well informed about viruses on the Mac and fairly technically adept, a
friend just came by the other day to use my printer.  She brought with
her a copy of WriteNow which was, as it happens, infected with one of
the nVir strains.  When it started up, I got GateKeeper's alert box,
but I was distracted and running a little late, so I just acknowledged
it and continued, not even bothering to read it.  If there had been a
Grant/Deny choice, I probably would have pressed Grant.  I guess I'm
so used to Microsoft programs doing all sorts of nasty things (I use
Word) that I just figured that WriteNow was trying to do something
similar.

So GateKeeper saved me both from the nVir infection and from myself in
this case.

I've seen ads for some of the commercial anti-virus products, but I've
never seen the need for them with GateKeeper.  It's a great little
utility.

--
   Steve Baumgarten             | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
   Davis Polk & Wardwell        |  remember, we were way ahead of you."
   baumgart@esquire.dpw.com     | 
   cmcl2!esquire!baumgart       |                           - David Letterman