Slowing and Stopping E-Mail Transmitted Viruses in an Exchange Environment

Viruses and worms transmitted by e-mail have become a destructive reality that many administrators of Microsoft Exchange battle.

This document provides you with recommendations on how to fortify a Microsoft® Exchange environment against e-mail transmitted viruses and worms. Resources for the implementation details related to the recommendations are included.

If you are a messaging administrator who is responsible for mail flow at the implementation level, this document is critical because its recommendations and information will help you provide a higher level of service to your clients. If you are a messaging architect, this information will be helpful to you when planning a messaging topology and solution. If you are a desktop administrator, review this article for suggestions for maintaining a virus-free computing environment for your clients. If you are a member of the messaging team, the decision you make about antivirus software should fit into the overall antivirus solution deployed on the desktops. If you are a network or firewall administrator for Microsoft Active Directory directory service, you may also benefit from understanding the recommendations in this document.

This document includes three main sections:

• Recommended Actions and Configurations: Provides the recommendations that you should implement to help minimize the impact of viruses and worms in the e-mail environment.

• Optional Configurations: Discusses some lower priority or alternate configuration suggestions that you should implement if you are unable to implement all the recommendations in the first section.

• What to Do When a Virus Attack Occurs: Gives a suggested set of recommendations and procedures for handling a virus outbreak. It is critical that you read this section and create a plan before an actual outbreak occurs.