Using the SA account and F-Secure AV for Exchange Symptoms
In all of the supported F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange versions, the SA account is used during installation. This article explains why this is the case.
Note: This article assumes deep technical understanding of both F-Secure's products and the relevant operating system. If you are unsure, please contact F-Secure support for assistance.
Diagnosis
During the SQL server installation, which provides quarantine management, the SA account is used. This user account has been the source of security issues in the past.
Solution
Windows authentication for the Microsoft SQL Server cannot be used during installation because of differing deployment scenarios which need to be supported. Mixed authentication mode is used in order to provide both centralized quarantine management and to make it possible to access the quarantine database from a server that might not belong to the Windows domain.
It is not possible to use a different account. Microsoft discourage using SA, but when it is used, it is possible to force strong password usage and also to apply the Windows password/security policy.
F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange does not use SA as such and the SA credentials are used only to create the F-Secure Quarantine Manager (less-privileged) user account during installation. After the installation the SA account can be disabled if you wish to do so.