Forefront Protects Some Lync Features

More than a year after the release of Lync Server 2010, an update to Forefront Security for Office Communications Server allows customers to protect some features of Lync Server 2010 against malware. However, full protection of conferencing is not available, and there are important configuration steps that must be done manually.

Some Limitations Remain

Lync Server 2010 is Microsoft’s unified communications (UC) platform for conferencing, instant messaging (IM), user presence, and voice. It is the fifth iteration of Microsoft’s UC product, previously called Office Communications Server (OCS), which was first introduced in early 2004.

Forefront Security for Office Communications Server (FSOCS) is Microsoft’s antimalware software for protecting Communications Server; it scans IM traffic and conference file transfers for viruses, using multiple scan engines from Microsoft and third parties such as Computer Associates, Kaspersky Labs, Norman Data Defense, and VirusBuster. It automatically retrieves virus signature updates from Microsoft or an internal redistribution site as often as every hour to keep protection up to date. FSOCS was introduced in Mar. 2009.