Microsoft has released a public beta of Forefront Security for its
portal and collaboration product, SharePoint.
Forefront Security for SharePoint provides security through
antivirus and antispam technology, while allowing IT administrators
to use assessment scans that show which parts of a network are
secure and which are not.
SharePoint lets people work together online, sharing data and
documents while communicating with each other. Users can connect
with others, as well as processes, inside and outside the
organisation.
The beta security product is for both Microsoft Office
SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.
Forefront Security for SharePoint uses layers to protect
customers from threats such as malware and inappropriate content
while integrating with the collaborative software for better server
performance and centralised management.
Once SharePoint is adopted by many in a company, protecting
SharePoint through a security product like Forefront is essential
because there is collaboration with people outside the network,
according to David Smith, a collaboration analyst with Gartner.
"Once [SharePoint] goes companywide and there are sites outside
of the company taking part, it becomes important to have security,"
Smith said. "In order to manage it properly you must also develop
policies and best practices."
Microsoft is making SharePoint the "crux of its collaboration
vision," Smith said, and he expects the company will continue to
add features like wiki capabilities. A wiki is server software that
lets groups collaborate on creating and editing web content. It
organizes the individual contributions as it allows the content to
be edited.
SharePoint is becoming popular with enterprise users, Smith
said. "It starts out as a grass roots effort, and then it becomes
pretty popular," he said. A lot of organisations begin using the
SharePoint Services, and many end up putting in a SharePoint
Server, which aggregates and helps organise all the collaborative
work, he added.
Microsoft acquired Forefront security technology when it bought
Sybari Software in 2005.
The final version of Forefront Security for SharePoint will be
available when Microsoft releases Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 by the end of this
year.