It wasn't until Microsoft's purchase of Giant Software and its Giant AntiSpyware
product, and the subsequent release of Windows Defender, Microsoft's spyware
scanning and removal tool, that the software giant really got serious about
anti-malware. Now Windows Defender is built into Windows Vista and available
as a free download for Windows XP. However, Windows Defender lacks centralized
administration and alerting, which means it's not a serious anti-malware solution
for most businesses. To fill this gap, Microsoft has released Microsoft Forefront
Client Security, a client/server application targeted at businesses and designed
to identify and block viruses, worms, spyware, rootkits, and other malicious
software at the host level for servers and workstations.
Centralized Management Using Enterprise Tools
Although Forefront Client Security is new, the technologies behind it are not.
Its pedigree includes the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool, Windows Server
Update Services (WSUS), Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), Group Policy Objects
(GPOs), and Microsoft SQL Server 2005, as well as work done by the Microsoft
Product Support Services Security Response team, which is behind the malware
definitions used by Windows Defender and Windows Live OneCare.
Forefront Client Security incorporates Windows
Defender's real-time protection agents to watch for suspicious activities, such as whether new programs are configured to autostart, and to monitor changes to the Microsoft
Internet Explorer configuration. You can also configure
Forefront Client Security to participate in the Microsoft
SpyNet program, which leverages a community of members
to quickly spread the word about new threats.
The success of any antivirus or antispyware application depends on robust,
up-to-date, and effective definition files. Forefront Client Security agents
use an updated WSUS configuration that checks Microsoft Update hourly for new definitions. Many
of the technologies used by Forefront Client Security are also used by Windows
Live OneCare, which has been certified by ICSA Labs for antivirus and personal
firewall use. Microsoft is seeking similar certification for Forefront Client
Security. (For an insider's view of Forefront Client Security, download Karen
Forster's interview of Microsoft Senior Product Manager Josue Fontanez at http://www.windowsitpro.com/podcast/Index.cfm?fuseaction=ShowRegistration&PCID=ccee52e8-6fcb-4c1c-aaf6a80563ea25aa.)
Most of the technologies behind Forefront Client Security are proven enterprise
solutions, and if you already have Microsoft server product expertise in-house,
your IT staff will find Forefront Client Security familiar. However, if you're
new to these enterprise technologies, you might find installation, deployment,
configuration, and administration daunting on both the server and clients.
Architecture and Installation
Forefront Client Security follows the client/ server application model common
to most antivirus and antispyware products. Every managed client needs the Forefront
Client Security agent installed. The Forefront Client Security agent isn't the
same as the Windows Defender agent included in Vista—you'll actually
need to disable the Vista Windows Defender antispyware agent before installing
the Forefront Client Security client. The Forefront Client Security agent communicates
with the product's server components, which play four roles: management server,
collection server, reporting server, and distribution server. Depending on your
hardware and the size of your company, you might be able to run all four roles
on one system, or you can spread them across computers to scale the deployment.
The server components run on Windows Server 2003 Release 2 (R2) or Windows 2003
Service Pack 1 (SP1) with all security updates installed.
The installation of Forefront Client Security might seem massive and
complex, especially when compared with other antivirus and antispyware
programs. Besides requiring WSUS to deploy antivirus and antispyware definitions
as well as new security updates, Forefront Client Security uses the Microsoft anti-malware engine to detect and remove the most common or harmful
viruses and worms and leverages MOM for client alert and event management. If
your enterprise already has MOM, deploying Forefront Client Security will install
a parallel MOM server for Forefront Client Security alone. Forefront
Client Security stores all its data in a SQL Server 2005 database and uses SQL
Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) to generate reports. Forefront Client
Security includes MOM, but you
must download and install the other components individually. Note that I tested
the public beta of Forefront Client Security, which might differ from the RTM
version.
Prerequisite software. Before you install the server components,
you need to make sure you've installed the prerequisite software:
- Microsoft IIS, ASP.NET, and Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions
- SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition SP1
- Group Policy Management Console SP1
- Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
- Microsoft Management Console 3.0
- WSUS 2.0 SP1
(For step-by-step instructions for installing these products and troubleshooting
problems, see http://www.microsoft.com/technet/clientsecurity/default.mspx.)
As part of the prerequisite work, you'll also set up a Windows Update GPO in
your test environment to point test clients to the
WSUS server.
Installing the server software. After you install the prerequisite
software, download Forefront Client Security at the Microsoft Web site and run
the installer. A wizard does a pretty good job stepping you through the configuration
and setup, but you'll want to pay close attention to the dialog boxes and instructions,
especially if you're installing the product components across multiple servers.
The wizard will prompt you for information required for a basic MOM installation,
such as the server name, MOM group name, and database and account information.
Make a note of all this information, as you'll be asked for it again later.
You'll also configure the reporting server and reporting database. For a single-server
installation, the wizard guides you through the configuration of the various
Microsoft technologies used to build Forefront Client Security.
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