Enhancing Exchange Security
By Brien
M. Posey, MCSE
Contributing Writer
These days, it seems as if it’s almost impossible to do business without having
access to an E-mail account. Because of this, Microsoft Exchange has quickly become
a mission critical application for many businesses.
Unfortunately, Exchange is also one of the applications that’s most at risk of
being attacked by hackers. In this article, I’ll address some of the many threats
to your Exchange Servers and explain how to counteract those potential threats.
Protecting Against Viruses
One of the biggest Exchange related malice’s not only threatens Exchange Server,
but your entire network. Of course I’m talking about viruses. Viruses have been
a threat to computer systems for many years, but recently the wide spread use
of E-mail has allowed viruses to spread at an alarming rate. Fortunately, there
are ways to protect your Exchange server against viruses.
I recommend taking a client / server approach to virus protection. The first level
of virus protection should be to install a reliable anti virus program on everyone’s
workstation. This will prevent users from accidentally working with infected files
and sending those files to others. I personally use and recommend the Hauri’s
ViRobot Expert anti virus solution. Although Hauri is relatively unknown in the
Untied States, they have been one of the top anti virus products in Asia for a
number of years. In a recent
benchmark test performed by Relevant Technologies Hauri beat out
Norton, McAfee, and Trend Micro in every benchmark test. You can learn more about
Hauri by visiting the Hauri Web site at http://www.hauriusa.net.
Once you’ve protected the workstations, you need to protect the server. Using
an anti virus program similar to the one that I recommended using on the workstations
is a good start, but you can take things a step further. Several companies manufacture
Exchange-aware anti virus software for your servers. These programs scan every
inbound and outbound message for viruses. If someone should send an infected file
to one of your users, the server level scanner can catch and isolate the virus
before the message is ever placed in the user’s Inbox. I recommend using Hauri’s
ViRobot for Exchange in conjunction with ViRobot Advanced Server at the server
level. By doing, all inbound and outbound E-mail messages are automatically scanned
for viruses. If a virus is detected, the software will automatically send an e-mail
to the intended recipient, disinfect the virus, and place the infected file into
a secure location. If the user needs the previously infected file, they may request
it from the Administrator.
The first time that I saw this product, I wondered why the disinfected file wasn’t
just automatically sent to the recipient. As it turns out, the disinfected files
are quarantined as a security measure. Many of the more malicious viruses choose
a random file from the infected person’s hard disk and use that file as a mechanism
for spreading the infection. If someone in your company were to become infected,
it’s possible that a file containing sensitive information could be E-mailed across
the company. By quarantining attachments after disinfection, ViRobot for Exchange
prevents a potential disclosure of sensitive information.
Read
the full article here
About
the Author:
Brien Posey has written thousands of technical articles on a variety
topics. You can access many of them by signing up for a free membership
to Brien's personal Web site at http://www.brienposey.com.
Brien's Web site
also contains a forum area where you can post your most difficult
technical questions and a live chat area where you can talk directly to
the experts!
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