Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server security features provide control over who can access Exchange objects in your organization and administrative groups, and who can connect to your mail system. Administrative permissions can be set at the organization or administrative group level for groups, computers, or individual users with Exchange Administration Delegation Wizard.
You can also require different levels of user authentication before granting access to your system. Authentication levels can range from no requirements, or requiring a password to requiring a security certificate. You can also block designated users and computers from accessing your Exchange system. You can audit the messages sent to your Exchange mail system by logging the client IP addresses, domain names, dates and times of messages, or message sizes.
As an Exchange administrator, you can use Windows 2000 security options to protect your Exchange system. Windows 2000 Server offers security features, such as user accounts, group policies, security and authentication protocols, and security logs. Windows 2000 also contains a set of tools to simplify configuring and auditing security.
In addition to the security features built into Exchange and Windows 2000, you can further protect your system from attack through the Internet by using firewalls. You can protect against viruses with virus-scanning software and protect passwords by creating user awareness.
This section provides the following general background information about security: