Introduction to Forefront Security for Exchange Server

 

Applies to: Forefront Security for Exchange Server

In Microsoft® Exchange, viruses can enter the environment in file attachments to e-mail messages, e-mail message bodies, and public folder posts, but traditional antivirus technology cannot monitor or scan the contents of the Exchange database or the Exchange transport stack. Exchange environments require an antivirus solution that can prevent the spread of viruses by scanning all messages in real time with minimal impact on server performance or delivery times of messages. Microsoft Forefront™ Security for Exchange Server (FSE) is the solution for protecting Exchange environments.

Forefront Security for Exchange Server is uniquely suited for Exchange Server 2007 environments. It uses the Exchange Virus Scanning API (VSAPI) to tightly integrate with the Exchange servers to provide seamless protection.

Forefront Security for Exchange Server provides powerful features that include:

  • Antivirus scanning using multiple antivirus scan engines.

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

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

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

Forefront Security for Exchange Server provides powerful protection for your messaging servers and is the antivirus solution for Exchange 2007 environments.

This Quick Start Guide will help you install and start using Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server in a basic environment. For more detailed information about the included topics and for additional topics not covered in this guide, see the "Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server User Guide."

Note

You can use the Microsoft Forefront Server Security Management Console to manage multiple FSE instances. You can find the product documentation at Microsoft Forefront Server Security Management Console. You can find a video introduction to the console at Forefront Management Console Part 1.

Third-party file-level antivirus programs

If you use a third-party file-level antivirus program on a server containing Forefront Security for Exchange Server, you must ensure that the following program folders are not scanned in order to prevent corruption of FSE:

  • <Drive:>\Program Files (x86)\ Microsoft Forefront Security

    (or whatever folder in which you installed FSE)

  • <Drive:>\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server

The file-level antivirus scan can also cause a conflict when FSE tries to scan e-mail messages.