The Microsoft Forefront comprehensive line of business security products provides greater protection and control through integration with your existing IT infrastructure and through simplified deployment, management, and analysis. Forefront is a comprehensive solution that helps provide protection for the client operating system, application servers, and the network edge.

Forefront Overview

Microsoft Forefront offers a comprehensive security product portfolio. The diagram below shows how the Microsoft Forefront products fit together, click each area of the network to learn more:

Malware protection for business desktops, laptops and server operating systems that's easier to manage and control

Microsoft Forefront Client Security provides unified malware protection for business desktops, laptops, and server operating systems that is easy to manage and control. Built on the same highly successful Microsoft protection technology already used by millions of people worldwide, Forefront Client Security helps guard against emerging threats such as spyware and root kits, as well as traditional threats such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. By delivering simplified administration through central management and providing critical visibility into threats and vulnerabilities, Forefront Client Security helps you protect your business with confidence and efficiency. Forefront Client Security integrates with your existing infrastructure software, such as Microsoft Active Directory, and complements other Microsoft security technologies for enhanced protection and greater control.

Protection and control for collaboration servers

Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint manages and integrates industry-leading antivirus scan engines to help provide comprehensive protection against the latest threats, inappropriate content, and disclosure of confidential information—helping ensure documents are safe before they are saved to or retrieved from the SharePoint document library. Customers who purchase Forefront Security for SharePoint to protect SharePoint Server 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 will also be licensed to use Antigen for SharePoint to protect SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 environments.

Multi-engine protection against the latest e-mail threats

Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server includes multiple scan engines from industry-leading security firms integrated into a single solution to help businesses protect their Exchange messaging environments from viruses, worms, and spam. It ships with and integrates multiple industry-leading antivirus engines to provide comprehensive, layered protection against the latest threats. Through deep integration with Exchange Server, scanning innovations and performance controls, Forefront Security for Exchange Server helps protect messaging environments while maintaining uptime and optimizing server performance. Forefront Security for Exchange Server also enables administrators to easily manage server configuration and operation, and automated scan engine signature updates and reporting, at the server and enterprise level.

Antigen for Instant Messaging is a server based antivirus solution that provides comprehensive protection for Live Communications Server and its Windows Messenger and Office Communicator clients. Real-time scanning ensures conversations and files are safe before they are sent or received.

New viruses, worms, and blended threats are increasing in sophistication, speed, and frequency. These threats are also finding new ways to propagate within corporate networks. Instant Messaging (IM) has become a corporate staple, helping to improve productivity and rapid collaboration between employees, customers, and partners. Unfortunately, the ubiquitous use of instant messaging and its collaborative nature make it a target for malicious code writers.

Antigen for Instant Messaging allows users to communicate without the risk of sending or receiving malicious code or undesirable content. Antigen for Instant Messaging provides comprehensive protection using layered defenses, corporate content policy enforcement, and optimization of messaging server resources to ensure messages and file transfers are secure at all times.

Integrated edge security gateway that helps protect IT environments from Internet-based threats while providing users with fast and secure remote access to applications and data.

ISA Server 2006 is an integrated edge security gateway that helps protect IT environments from Internet-based threats while providing users fast and secure remote access to applications and data.

ISA Server 2006 enables organizations to make their Exchange, SharePoint, and other Web application servers accessible in a more secure way to remote users outside the corporate network. By pre-authenticating users before they gain access to any published servers, inspecting even encrypted traffic at the application layer in a stateful manner, and providing automated publishing tools, ISA Server 2006 makes it easier to provide security for corporate applications accessed over the Internet.

It can help organizations protect their environments from internally and externally originating Internet-based threats. With a hybrid proxy-firewall architecture, deep content inspection, granular policies, and comprehensive alerting and monitoring capabilities, ISA Server 2006 makes it easier to manage and protect your network.

Microsoft's Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG) 2007 is the comprehensive, secure remote access gateway that provides secure socket layer (SSL)-based application access and protection with endpoint security management. Read the resources listed below to learn how IAG 2007 enables granular access control, authorization, and deep content inspection from a broad range of devices and locations to a wide variety of line-of-business, intranet, and client/server resources.

Integrated with ISA Server 2006, IAG 2007 delivers a single, consolidated appliance for network perimeter defense, remote access and application-layer protection over both SSL and IPsec connections, providing businesses with a broader set of choices for their remote access requirements. Integration of SSL VPN into existing Microsoft infrastructure supports secure access to both Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications and services from a single appliance.

Microsoft Forefront Server Security Management Console is part of the Microsoft Forefront server security family of products, which help businesses protect their Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 environments against viruses, worms, spam, and inappropriate content.

• Simplified Management: Forefront Server Security Management Console allows administrators to easily manage Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint, and Microsoft Antigen, providing a Web-based console to centralize configuration and operation, automate the download and distribution of signature and scan engine updates, and generate comprehensive reports.

• Comprehensive Protection: Forefront Server Security Management Console enables administrators to rapidly respond to outbreaks and update protection across enterprise deployments, improving organizational agility in responding to new threats.

• Optimized Performance: Through integration with Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft SQL Server, Forefront Server Security Management Console helps maintain reliability and performance of messaging and collaboration protection.

Microsoft Forefront products are offered on a subscription basis, requiring the purchase of a User/Device Subscription License (USL) or a Services Subscription License (SSL) with the exception of ISA Server 2006 which is licensed on a per processor basis and the Intelligent Application Gateway which is licensed per Server with Client Access Licenses.

Subscription licensing is only available through one of the following volume licensing programs, contact one of our Microsoft licensing sales experts for more information on 08700 11 33 10.