Forefront Products Protect the Network Edge

Two parts of the Forefront protection wave of security products were released with Threat Management Gateway (TMG, released Dec. 2009) and Unified Access Gateway (UAG, released Jan. 2010). They joined Forefront Protection for Exchange Server (released Nov. 2009) and Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (updated Nov. 2009). Customers can plan a complete Microsoft protection solution and prepare for the centralized management of security products, including antimalware protection and identity management. However, implementing these gateway products may require infrastructure upgrades: both products are 64-bit (x64) only and require recent editions of Windows Server.

Threat Management Gateway

The next version of Microsoft’s principal network access security product, formerly known as Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server, is Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 and was released in Nov. 2009.

TMG has a dual role as a firewall to insulate corporate networks from the Internet and as a cache that speeds viewing of Internet content and reduces bandwidth requirements. It includes scanning for malware and inappropriate content (enabling them to be eliminated from network traffic before they enter an organization’s network) and incorporates new URL filtering technology (similar to the DynaComm i:Filter product that Microsoft acquired) to block access to inappropriate or malicious Web sites. TMG can also be used to manage Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange for Exchange Edge Transport servers.