MS Antispyware on Exchange server ?

[pinkfloyd65]

Hi All,

I was wondering if it is advisable to install the new Microsoft Antispyware utility on a Windows 2003 Server running Exchange 2003...
I've researched this subject but coudn't find a definite answer so I wanted to poll this audience.
Has anyone installed the Antispyware on an Exchange server or is it not recommended?

Thank you all for replying.

 

[jpm121]

I think it's a really bad idea, personally. Are you surfing the internet on your Exchange box?

Get a good Exchange aware anti-virus, and filter the usual suspects (exe, scr, pif, vbs, etc...) on inbound mail.

 

[pinkfloyd65]

No, no, no surfing on the Internet from the Exchange server (apart from the occasional checking of Windows updates). Just thought that it may add another layer of protection, but now I'm having second thoughts and that's the reason of this thread.
I have eTrust on this server and, as you suggest, filter the known crap (scr, pif, gif, vbs, etc.) on inboud traffic.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Xanaxo]

I completely agree that it is a best practice that you should prevent surfing the Internet from your Exchange server as much as possible. However, this is not always possible for every user under all deployment conditions.

Provided you must surf, I personally do recommend that you have this application installed and running on your Exchange 2003 server. I have had it on my server for some time now and have not had any issues with it. I cannot honestly say that I have done any extensive testing with the product, but I have not seen it interfere with anything my Exchange server does. There have not been any reports internally at MS on issues revolving around these two products being installed together. (as of this posting on 07/26/05 - I did a quick search on our internal knowledge base and found nothing)

Granted the best thing for you to do is test this in a lab environment to see if the implementation works for you.

I hope this helps.

Steven Parent [MSFT]

 

[pinkfloyd65]

Steven,

Thanks for the input. I've been having lately some issues with Exchange "locking out" on me all of a sudden and getting weird 419 event errors and thought to cover all bases, since I couldn't find any reliable info on this so far.
Oh well, I guess the search continues...at least it's not due to some inconsistency between Exchange and MS Antispam.

 

[jpm121]

Someone will undoubtedly be along soon to suggest you install Firefox and use that for browsing...

 

[Xanaxo]

Well it is never a bad idea to rule out any apps running around Exchange when troubleshooting it. I have not seen any issues, but that is not to say they do not exist.

Yeah firefox.. I an't going there.

Good luck!

Steven Parent [MSFT]