Week 1/2 Threat Management Server

In this weeks posting we are going to be discussing something that can aid in protecting your network against outside threats.  This device is called the the Threat Management Server.

There are several reasons you would want to install a Threat Management Server (TMS).  It has many features that are used to help protect your network.  It has a built-in firewall that inspects traffic inbound and outbound and also filters out malware.  The security features also help to thwart attempts to exploit vulnerabilities which have not been patched yet.  The TMS has routing and remote access capabilities in it as well.  It can act as a router an internet gateway and VPN and a proxy server.  Another reason to add a TMS to your network is to help it be more efficient by enhancing network performance.  It can compress web traffic to improve speed, and also does web caching.  

As you can see, there are many reasons you would want a Threat Management Server as part of your network.  If it were me, I would install a Microsoft Forefront TMG (gateway).  You can simply download the TMG from Microsoft’s website for free.  It comes with very straight forward installation instructions to follow.  Some of the issues you can run into with a TMG is that you can incorrectly configure your firewall rules.  This has the potential to block needed traffic.  In a company setting, you could accidentally block customers from getting to your web domain and this could cause lost revenue.  Although you can no longer purchase the Microsoft Forefront TMG, it is still supported up til April 2020.  I can see this support being pushed further into the future as it is still being used today.