Managing E-Mail Virus and Spam Protection

  • Article

Updated: July 22, 2009

Applies To: Windows SBS 2008, Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard

Traditional antivirus software cannot monitor or scan the contents of the Exchange Server database. You must have an antivirus solution that can prevent the spread of viruses by scanning all messages in real time with minimal impact on server performance or on delivery times of messages. Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server (FSE) helps protect against viruses that may be in file attachments to e-mails, bodies of e-mails, and posts to public folders.

FSE features include the following:

  • Antivirus scanning, using multiple antivirus scan engines.

  • Distributed protection on all Exchange server roles for storage and transport, including Edge, Hub, and Mailbox/Public Folder servers.

  • File filtering by file name, extension, or size.

  • Comprehensive notifications for the administrator, the message sender, and the message recipient.

During Windows SBS 2008 installation, you can choose to install a trial version of FSE for e-mail. The trial version is a complete, fully functional version of FSE with a 120-day trial period that begins after you complete the Windows SBS 2008 installation wizard.

Important

If you do not choose to renew your subscription to FSE when the trial period expires, you must uninstall FSE and manually disable anti-spam updates in Exchange Server. You can uninstall FSE in Programs and Features in Control Panel. For more information about how to manually disable anti-spam updates, see Enabling and Disabling Anti-Spam Updates in Exchange Server.

If you do not choose to install FSE during Windows SBS 2008 installation, you can install it later. For information about installing FSE, see “Installing Forefront Security” at the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=131324).

Note

When FSE is installed during Windows SBS 2008 installation, appropriate settings for Windows SBS 2008 are applied. If you install FSE later, additional configuration steps may be required. See Default FSE Settings for the settings that are applied during Windows SBS 2008 installation.

Important

If there is a proxy server on your network, you can configure FSE to retrieve updates through the proxy server. See Configure FSE to use a proxy server for how to configure the proxy server in FSE.

Note

When FSE detects an e-mail containing a virus, the e-mail is quarantined at \Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Forefront Security\Exchange Server\Data\Archive\Inbox.

For information about assessing the status of e-mail protection, see Assessing e-mail virus and spam protection status.

For more information about Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server, see the “Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server Evaluation Guide” at the Microsoft Web site (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=131769).