SAM Intercept consists of two components: a startup program (INIT) and a Control Panel program (cdev). The startup program watches for suspicious activities, intercepts them, and reports them to you. The Control Panel program lets you control the way the startup program operates on your Macintosh.
^BThe SAM Startup Program
When a suspicious activity is attempted, SAM intercepts it, displays an alert, and waits for you to deal with it. For example, if the attempt is to launch an infected application, an alert is displayed which allows you to Stop the launch or Proceed with it. In other alerts you can Allow the attempt to take place THIS TIME ONLY, Deny the attempt and thereby stop it THIS TIME ONLY, or instruct SAM Intercept to Learn about the attempt. In the latter case, SAM Intercept records the attempt and the current application in an Exceptions List. If the same attempt occurs again within the same application, SAM allows it without displaying an alert.
^BThe SAM Control Panel Program
The options in the Control Panel program let you control the way the startup program operates on your Macintosh. The "Virus protection on" check box is a master switch that activates and deactivates SAM Intercept's virus protection features. The "Configure" button lets you configure how the startup program operates, such as displaying the Startup Icon, choosing the Protection level, or turning on the Audit trail. The "Scan" button lets you set SAM Intercept's runtime scanning options, including floppy disk scanning, folder scanning, and scanning at shutdown or startup. The "Security" button lets you set SAM's various advanced security features, such as locking SAM Intercept or modifying the way the SAM Intercept alerts operate. The "Exceptions" button displays the SAM Exceptions List, which is updated when you instruct the startup program to Learn certain activities. In the SAM Exceptions List, you can Delete specific entries from the list, Clear all entries, or Print the List.
