- The corporation-standard antivirus software is installed and running and the latest signature files are being used.

- Internet or network routing is disabled.

- Windows XP's ICF, or any other approved firewall, is installed, enabled and actively protecting ports on the computer.

- You would expect your business desktops to comply with policy, particularly because of the excellent tools that are now available for distributed management.

But mobile users have typically been either overlooked or grudgingly accepted as exceptions to the rule. Luckily, Windows Server 2003 includes a new feature in its Resource Kit, or with Service Pack 1, known as Network Access Quarantine Control (NAQC). In a nutshell, NAQC prevents unhindered access to a network for a remote user connecting to a secured endpoint until after the machine at the endpoint has verified the connecting computer's configuration meets certain requirements and standards.