GateKeeper Email Firewall Challenge: $10,000 For Breaching Security

The antivirus industry lambasted e-mail firewall start-up GateKeeper on Monday, after the company announced a reward for any virus writer who can infect a specific computer protected by its product. "It is probably one of the most irresponsible things that someone could do," said Vincent Gullotto, director of the Antivirus Emergency Response Team for security services company Network Associates. . . . The antivirus industry lambasted e-mail firewall start-up GateKeeper on Monday, after the company announced a reward for any virus writer who can infect a specific computer protected by its product. "It is probably one of the most irresponsible things that someone could do," said Vincent Gullotto, director of the Antivirus Emergency Response Team for security services company Network Associates.

The challenge, announced Monday, will pay $100 to the first person to get a virus past the company's e-mail gateway and infect a computer on the internal network. The company will also pay $9,900 to the person for information about how they created the virus.

While such challenges have been popular as a way to gather hackers from around the world to crack encryption or test a security product, applying them to the virus-writing scene is irresponsible, said Susan Orbuch, spokeswoman for antivirus software company Trend Micro.

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