For Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit, EMET is one of the best and least-known security tools created by Microsoft. EMET is a simple yet effective software that uses specific mitigation techniques such as data execution prevention, table export address filtering, exception handling, structured override protection, etc., to add features. Additional security features to protect your installed apps from being exploited.
For example, installing Java and Internet Explorer are some vulnerable programs, and using EMET, you can protect these installed programs from common attacks. Most of the techniques used by EMET are built right into the Windows operating system, and EMET acts as an easy user interface to deal with all of the advanced security tools. So here’s how you can use EMET to protect your Windows computer.
One thing to keep in mind when using this tool is that it won’t work well with older software. If you are using old software, EMET might not be for you as it can lead to some positives, and the apps might not work as they have to be due to compatibility issues.
Use the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)
First, directly from Microsoft’s website and install it like any other software.
During installation, select the “Use Recommended Settings” option in the configuration window and click the “Finish” button to continue.
Once installed, EMET will sit quietly in the taskbar, monitoring, and protecting supported apps. Just double-click on it to open the EMET window.
As you can see, EMET shows all running processes and system status in the main window.
After installing EMET, the first thing you need to do is to add all popular software to your apps list. Fortunately, Microsoft provides you with an XML file with the most popular software like Firefox, Chrome, Windows Media Player … To do that, select the option “Import” on the ribbon toolbar.
Now select the file “Popular Software.xml” and click the “Open” button to upload the file to EMET.
Once you’ve added the files, either restart all apps or reboot your entire system to be sure.
When you reboot, you can see all EMET-protected applications in the process section of the main window. Applications protected by EMET will have a green checkmark in the “Running EMET” section.
In fact, by clicking the “Apps” button on the ribbon, you can see all the apps protected by EMET. In the window In the Application Configuration window, you can enable and disable individual mitigation policies for each application.
If you want to add your application to EMET, please click the “Add Application” button on the ribbon, select the application and click the “Open” button to complete the procedure. For example, I added the Sublime Text app to EMET.
Once added, it will be listed in the Application Configuration window, and you can set up your mitigation policies just like any other application in this section.
You can also quickly configure the security level by changing the profile in “Quick Profile Name” on the Ribbon interface. The recommended setting would be the “Recommended Security Settings” option.
If EMET finds any vulnerable program or one that doesn’t follow the rules, then it restricts the application from starting and displays a simple message letting you know that.
As you can see, EMET detected an EAF (Export Address Table Access Filtering) and blocked the execution of the Thunderbird application. However, if you trust the application, you can change the application configuration window’s mitigation rules.
Furthermore, if you don’t like the EMET interface’s look, you can change the look by choosing one of the available skins from the “Skin” drop-down menu on the ribbon.
Conclusion
EMET is primarily aimed at administrators, and the software itself is super strict in applying its mitigation rules to applications. That being said, it can be used entirely by any Windows user, and if you are still using Windows XP for any reason, then using EMET would be a good thing to protect your PC.
There could certainly be compatibility issues with some apps, but the security provided by EMET is well worth it. Furthermore, Microsoft is actively developing the application for compatibility with more and more applications, so get it a try.
That’s all there is to do, and I hope that helps. Feel free to comment below, sharing your thoughts and experiences using EMET to protect your application from potential vulnerabilities and vulnerabilities.
