Microsoft Forefront Client Security
About
Microsoft Forefront Client Security (MFCS) is the formal name of Microsoft's Anti-malware product for business. Since many people are not familiar with the term Malware, the following definition may be helpful:
"Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. The term 'computer virus' is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses... Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware and other malicious and unwanted software." - Wikipedia
Although it may be too technical for most, a product brochure is available here.
Costs
MFCS must be purchased through a Microsoft Authorized Reseller. Hein Computer Services, Inc. has partnered with Software Intl., a Microsoft Authorized Reseller, in order to assist clients with this option.
MFCS can be purchased from Software Intl. directly or through Hein Computer Services, Inc. When purchasing through Hein Computer Services, Inc., the cost for the MFCS Agent license for clients who do not already have a Microsoft Licensing Agreement is $1/license/month or $12/license/year with a minimum of 5 licenses and 3 years. You can add or subtract licenses after the fact as long as you maintain at least 5 licenses during the course of the agreement.
Most clients only need to purchase licenses for the MFCS Agent to protect their individual computers. If you need to purchase a license for the management console, then the cost is considerably more. Hein Computer Services, Inc. does not markup the cost of the software, but since setting up the agreement, acquiring the licenses, and activating the online subscription can be confusing to many clients, Hein Computer Services, Inc. does offer to perform these tasks for the client for a fee of $50. This fee may be waived if the client chooses to have Hein Computer Services, Inc. install the software on their computer systems for them. The installation fee depends on the client situation, but may be as little as $95.
A pdf describing the process of acquiring Microsoft licenses and setting up an agreement is available here.
System Requirements
The following is a list of Windows operating systems that are supported by the MFCS Agent:
Windows 2000 Professional and Server with SP4 and Update Rollup 1 (May not be supported after 7/13/2010)
Windows XP Home, Professional, Tablet PC Edition, and Media Center Edition with SP2 or later
Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or later
Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise Edition
Windows Vista Business, Enterprise, Home, or Ultimate
Installation
Since MFCS is a complex product with multiple components and most of our clients only use the MFCS Agent, Hein Computer Services, Inc. has repackage the Agent for easy installation. There are two versions of the installation package depending on the architecture of your computer system. The x86 is for 32-bit systems and the x64 is for 64-bit systems. Before installing the Agent, it may be necessary to make sure that your computer system has all the latest Microsoft Windows updates. In addition to Windows Updates, the Agent requires Microsoft Update to be installed as well. To install Microsoft Update, go to http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate in Internet Explorer.
The installation files can be found at:
http://www.heincomputerservices.com/downloads/fcsa
There are also two folders available at the above location. The Windows 2000 folder contains updates that may be required in order to install the software on Windows 2000. The Vista folder contains an update that may be required in order to install Microsoft Update.