Firewall for use in a domain environment

[kitty500cat]

Hi guys,

OK, here's how it goes. At the small business where I work, we have 7 computers plus a server on a 100 Mb/s Ethernet network, on a domain. The server's running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition; the workstations are running Windows XP Professional.

We're currently running the Windows firewall on some of the computers, though I'm not sure if it's enabled on all of them. The workstations have AVG free for anti-virus.

We have a Watchguard Firebox Edge X10e hardware firewall, which also acts as the router for the network. But as far as I know, it's also good to run a software firewall.

AVG free might work fine for AV, but commercial use goes against the license agreement. So my question is, what anti-virus and software firewalls should we be running? Does the server need any protection, or is its built-in firewall enough?

Thanks in advance.

Regards

 

[DelJo63]

search this site for Proactive vs. Reactive.

ALL AV products attempt to make you well AFTER you have been infected.

Firewalls, blacklists, NAT, SPI, Spywareblaster, are tools designed to help you
stay well, ie: not get infected in the first place.

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure(s)

 

[kitty500cat]

What software firewalls should I run though? ZoneAlarm had a really good deal on its Internet Suite, but will that interfere with the LAN/domain at all?

 

[k.jacko]

I recently had the same issue, but on a much bigger scale of 4 servers running 2003, 50 pc's running xp pro and a firebox Edge x50.
As you stated AVG free cannot legally be run in a commercial environment.
Currently we use sophos and is centrally managed from one server.
But i've just bought 10 licences of BitDefender. I was legally allowed to buy the homeuser editions as i didn't want the central management software as i am putting bitdefender on the laptops; it includes antispyware, antispam, firewall and antivirus.
Cost £15/licence. I chose this because i'd trawled the net for reviews and then tested it myself. It came out tops. But you can buy the SMB licences with server management software.
Personaly, i wouldn't worry about software internal firewalls.

Hope it helps.

 

[kitty500cat]

Thanks jobeard and k.jacko.

Is AVG Anti-virus Pro a good choice for AV?

Also, do we need AV on the server?

 

[k.jacko]

Is AVG Anti-virus Pro a good choice for AV?

Also, do we need AV on the server?

I'd seriously consider BitDefender mate.

And yes, you need AV on the server, its what holds the most vital of information, ie. active directory, probably your data as well (?)
If your server gets attacked, your DC is buggered until you fix it, which will obviously affect your pc's as well as they are logged onto the domain.

What email system are you using?

 

[kitty500cat]

We are running Exchange on the server, and Outlook on the workstations.

I'll look into BitDefender.

Thanks mate and regards

 

[kitty500cat]

What version of BitDefender should we be running on the server? There are different versions of BitDefender, and I don't want to screw the server over by installing the wrong AV, or have the AV blocking the workstations.

Thanks for your help and patience. I'm kind of a noob when it comes to server security.

 

[kitty500cat]

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