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Viruses and worms are targeted mainly at the operating systems.
Viruses are most commonly transferred through e-mail, in the form
of binary file attachments, through infected Web sites, or through
shared disk drives on the network.
Message Networking supports the SMTP/MIME protocol. The Message
Networking system only allows authorized files to be sent as attachments
between Message Networking and Modular Messaging systems. In addition,
the system administrator at the customer site should implement firewalls
and Access Control Lists on the gateway routers to block any SMTP
traffic from external sources. Avaya recommends that you implement
an anti-virus protection software directly on the corporate e-mail
servers and on individual user systems to detect any SMTP/MIME viruses.
Anti-virus detection may also be run on the Message Networking system
at regular intervals. Infected files, if detected, should be cleaned
or removed and restored from the backup.
Message Networking supports the download of software updates from
the Avaya support site. It is critical that the machine to which
you download Message Networking software updates have the latest
virus detection software installed.
Anti-virus Software
Message Networking does not perform any virus detection. Your company
should carefully evaluate the security risks of email and file attachments
and make provisions for virus detection software that can sit between
the Message Networking server and incoming email. Your PC/LAN administrator
should be able to advise on how your LAN is already set up or could
be set up to detect and prevent the transmission of software viruses.
At a minimum, you should advise your subscribers that file attachments
should be detached (not launched) and scanned for viruses before
use.
If you do want to install and manage anti-virus software for added
security, Avaya allows customers to load anti-virus software on
the Message Networking system. However, the customer must assume
full risk for any undesired interactions between the anti-virus
software and the Avaya product. Customers are responsible for the
procurement, installation, and management of anti-virus products
in all cases.
It is best to install anti-virus software only after the Avaya
products are installed. If anti-virus software is installed prior
to installing any Avaya messaging application, be certain to uninstall
the anti-virus software before proceeding, and do not reinstall
it until after the installation is complete and the correct operation
of the Avaya product has been verified. It is important to consider
the impact that anti-virus scanning may have on the performance
of the Avaya messaging servers prior to scanning for viruses. For
example, performing a complete I/O file scan may have a negative
impact on the relative server performance. Avaya recommends that
you do not employ any message scanning that could drastically impact
the performance of the Avaya servers.
Anti-virus programs are available in the form of standalone e-mail
hosts, firewalls, and routers with embedded scanning.
General recommendations
The following are some general recommendations for limiting virus
problems.
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Run the corporate standard anti-virus programs on a regular
basis. Download and install updates to the anti-virus software
when they become available from your anti-virus vendor.
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Never open any files or macros attached to an e-mail from an
unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source. Delete these attachments
immediately, then double delete them by emptying your trash.
Delete spam, chain, and other junk e-mail without forwarding
it.
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Never download files from unknown or suspicious sources.
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Avoid direct disk sharing with read and write access unless
there is a business requirement to do so.
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Always scan a diskette from an unknown source for viruses,
before using it.
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Back up critical data and system configurations on a regular
basis and store the data in a safe place.
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