Securing Outlook Web Access

Reverse proxy is one specialized deployment of the proxy architecture. For the typical organization, securing OWA (Outlook Web Access) is probably one of the most common concerns around IT administrators, who secure their end-users access to corporate resources.

Giving end-users access to OWA from the Internet is always a concern, as it requires opening up an internal server with valuable corporate resources to the World Wide Web. There's of course even greater concern, as OWA runs on an Exchange server on a Windows Server platform, a platform that needs to be secured before it can be offered on an Internet link.

The reverse proxy fills this security concern neatly as an architecture that can not only secure OWA, but provide performance improvements for the OWA server at the same time, using the caching capabilities of the reverse proxies for static items like graphics.

In selecting a reverse proxy for securing your OWA or other internal application, look for SSL enabled security for reverse proxies. Not all reverse proxies support SSL, and SSL proxy capability is a requirement when talking about securing internal corporate resources. Additional benefits a proxy can offer included redirection to SSL login pages, timing out of logged in sessions, and other security enhancements to web access.

The reverse proxy is a necessity in any corporate deployment of OWA access from the Internet, and can offer similar benefits for any other web enabled application that end-users are accessing from the Internet. Be sure to look for the right security features for your application when deciding on which reverse proxy to deploy.