Understanding the Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2004

The rise in the prevalence of computer viruses, threats, and exploits on the Internet has made it necessary for organizations of all shapes and sizes to reevaluate their protection strategies for edge-services such as SharePoint Portal Server. No longer is it possible to ignore or minimize these threats because the damage they can cause can cripple a company's business functions. A solution to the increased sophistication and pervasiveness of these viruses and exploits is becoming increasingly necessary.

Corresponding with the growth of these threats has been the development and maturation of the ISA Server product from Microsoft. The latest release of the product, ISA Server 2004, is fast becoming a business-critical component of many organizations, which are finding that many traditional packet filtering firewalls and technologies don't necessarily stand up to the modern threats of today. The ISA Server 2004 product provides that higher level of application security required, particularly for common tools such as SharePoint Portal Server and Windows SharePoint Services.