Security Framework for Office Communications Server 2007 R2

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 will reach end of support on January 9, 2018. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

This chapter provides an overview of the fundamental elements that form the security framework for Office Communications Server 2007 R2. Understanding how these elements work together is essential for making informed decisions about securing your particular Office Communications Server installation.

These fundamental security elements are as follows:

  • Active Directory Domain Services provides a single trusted back-end repository for user accounts and network resources.

  • (Public key infrastructure (PKI) uses certificates issued by trusted certification authorities (CAs) to authenticate servers and ensure data integrity.

  • Transport Layer Security (TLS), HTTPS over SSL (HTTPS), and mutual TLS (MTLS) enable endpoint authentication and IM encryption. Media streams are encrypted using Secure Real-Time Transport Protocol (SRTP).

  • Industry-standard protocols for authenticating users.

These fundamental security elements work together to define trusted users, servers, and connections. The resulting trust relationships provide the foundation on which rests the entire Office Communications Server 2007 R2 security framework.

The topics in this section describe how each of these fundamental elements works to enhance the security of your Office Communications Server infrastructure.