Microsoft® SharePoint® Server 2007 Bible

Securing Client Communications

Having a secure network and server is not enough to ensure the security of your data. With users working in coffee shops, airports and hotels, we also need to be sure that their data is encrypted on its way from their clients to the servers in your datacenter. Once we have made sure that the packets going from the client to the server are secure, we then need to turn our attention to the authentication mechanism being used to determine who is at the other end of the connection as well as what they will be able to do once connected. Some authentication methods are more secure, while others will perform better across a network. Business and environmental factors must be assessed before selecting the best method for an organization.

In this section we review the various authentication methods available and provide suggestions and guidance to help you select the best way to communicate with the clients in your environment. We wrap the section up with the steps need to successfully configure SSL.

Authentication

A client connecting to MOSS or WSS can take the form of a Windows PC saving a document from Word or the same PC uploading a document to a WSS site via a browser. A client may also be a hand-held device accessing MOSS via a mobile URL or a Mac PowerBook accessing a site page via a Mac browser. There are many client options for access to MOSS and WSS, but only a limited number of supported authentication methods.

The default method is Windows Authentication, ...