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How to use the Windows 2003 SP1-introduced port and application filtering options to protect your Exchange server.

Windows XP SP2 introduced a security overhaul for the Microsoft client operating system. It actually became a new operating system with almost all of the code changed. A lot of the coding and testing effort went into creating the Windows Firewall, Microsoft's version of a personal firewall. A personal firewall is a piece of software that filters incoming and/or outgoing TCP/IP activity for a single workstation by using a special network driver.

Granted, there were and still are a lot of personal firewalls around. These firewalls had always been a big headache for support centers since more often than not they would break a crucial application or prevent access to important resources. Also, sometimes when Microsoft released patches and service packs the personal firewall would break.

Microsoft initially provided for Windows XP a very limited port filtering option called Internet Connection Filtering which blocked access from the Internet unless it had been initiated by the user. Windows 2000/3 had a more advanced port filtering option which was hardly used due to severe limitations.

The new Windows Firewall was meant to be easy to use and yet flexible enough to not disturb productivity. It was specifically designed with the enterprise in mind allowing computers and users to log in to the domain before restricting ports. It also had an option for central configuration using Group Policy.

The outbreak of viruses and the misuse of corporate networks by using P2P applications that use typically open ports (such as port 80) meant that implementing the Windows Firewall throughout an organization became a valid option, especially for companies where security is a high priority.

Windows 2003 SP1 is the first Microsoft server operating system that has its own personal firewall, which essentially is very much like the Windows XP SP2 version.

This article aims to provide an overview of protecting Exchange server using the personal firewall. This can become a valid choice for servers hosted at an ISP, remote branch offices that have no corporate firewall and for companies willing to take the time to increase security internally.

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Source:
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Protecting-Exchange-2003-Windows-Firewall.html

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