Creating a file filter list

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Applies to: Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint

You can create a file filter list to prevent files with specific attributes from being uploaded to or downloaded from a SharePoint site. The Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint (FPSP) file filter feature enables you to filter files by the following criteria:

  • File type

  • File name

  • File extension

  • File size

To create a file filter list

  1. In the Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint Administrator Console, click Policy Management, and then, under the Filters section, click Filter Lists.

  2. In the Filters - Filter Lists pane, click the Create button.

  3. In the Select Filter Type dialog box, select File, and then click Next.

  4. In the Select Your Goal dialog box, select what you want to achieve with this file filter list by selecting one of the following options and then clicking Next:

    • Filter files of specific types by inspecting the file header

    • Filter files with specific name patterns

    • Filter files of specific types AND with specific name patterns

      Note

      The options that appear on the next dialog boxes are dependent upon what you select here.

  5. In the Select File Types and Select File Names dialog boxes, specify the filter list name and filter details and click Next when you are finished adding your criteria.

    1. In the Filter list name box, type a name for the new list.

    2. In the Filter criteria - by file type section, specify the file types to be filtered when matched by a file inspection. You can select one or more file types from the list. This section appears when you select Filter files of specific types by inspecting the file header or Filter files of specific types AND with specific name patterns.

      For more information about specifying file types, including examples, see Filtering files by file type.

    3. In the Filter criteria - by file name section, if you want to detect files with a particular file name, type the file name, and then click Add. You can repeat this step in order to add multiple file names, or you can add multiple file names on the same line, provided that they are separated by a comma. This section appears when you select Filter files with specific name patterns or Filter files of specific types AND with specific name patterns.

      For more information about specifying values in the Filter criteria - by file name section, including examples, see Filtering files by file name, Filtering files by file extension, and Filtering files by file size.

      Note

      You can edit items in a file filter list by double-clicking the item, editing the item, and then pressing ENTER. You can then modify additional file names or change the Filter criteria - by file type options. You can delete items from a file filter list by selecting the item and then clicking Remove. You can also import items into a file filter list (for more information, see Importing items into a filter list) and export items from a file filter list (for more information, see Exporting items from a filter list). For information about using wildcard characters to further refine your file filters, see Using wildcard characters to refine filters.

  6. In the Realtime Scan, Scheduled Scan, and On-Demand Scan dialog boxes, configure how you want the filter list to be applied to the realtime, scheduled, and on-demand scans:

    1. To enable the filter list for use with a scan job, using the Enabled drop-down list, select Yes. Filter lists are enabled by default.

    2. Configure the action that FPSP should take when a file filter is matched by using the Action drop-down list for each scan job.

      For more information about these options, see Configuring the action when a filter is matched.

    3. To configure FPSP to quarantine files when the filter is matched, using the Quarantine files drop-down list, select Yes. Quarantining for filters is enabled by default. Enabling quarantining causes deleted files to be stored, permitting you to recover them.

    4. To configure notifications when the filter is matched, using the Notifications drop-down list, you can select Never send notifications to prevent the sending of the File filter matched notification, even if it is enabled. Otherwise, FPSP uses the configured File filter matched notification settings; Use notification settings is the default.

    5. Click Create.

      The file filter list you just created appears on the Filters - Filter Lists pane.

  7. Click Save.

See Also

Concepts

Viewing and managing filter lists
Skipping file filtering within compressed files
Editing deletion text for file filters