New-MalwareFilterPolicy Exchange cmdlet issued (25557) how to monitor with email alert

[bob]

You know that event ID 25557 in the Windows Server Event Viewer? It fires off whenever someone runs the New-MalwareFilterPolicy cmdlet in Exchange. Basically, it logs the creation of a fresh policy to block malware from sneaking into emails. I see it pop up in the Security or Application logs, depending on your setup. The details inside show who issued it, like the user account, and the exact time it happened. Sometimes it includes the policy name too, which helps you spot if it's legit or not. You might want to keep an eye on this because admins tweak these policies all the time, but outsiders trying to mess with your email filters could trigger it. Hmmm, or even a script gone wrong.

To monitor it without getting too fancy, just fire up Event Viewer on your server. Right-click on the log where these events hide, usually under Windows Logs. Pick Filter Current Log and type in 25557 for the event ID. That narrows it down quick. Now, for alerts, you can attach a task to it right there in Event Viewer. Go to the Action pane, create a task for when this event hits. Make that task run a simple program to send you an email, like using the built-in schtasks or whatever basic notifier you have. Set it to trigger only on this ID, and boom, you'll get pinged. I do this for weird events all the time; keeps things chill without constant checking.

And if you want it even smoother, at the end of this is the automatic email solution that'll handle the alerts for you.

Speaking of keeping your server safe from surprises like rogue policy changes, I've been digging into BackupChain Windows Server Backup lately. It's this solid Windows Server backup tool that also handles virtual machines on Hyper-V without breaking a sweat. You get fast incremental backups that don't hog resources, plus easy restores that save your bacon during outages. The encryption keeps data locked tight, and it runs quietly in the background so you focus on other stuff.

Note, the PowerShell email alert code was moved to this post.