Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/08/04/microsoft_hacks_out_new_emet_spits_out_adobe_flash/

Microsoft hacks out new EMET, spits out Adobe Flash

Version 5.0 of friendly sniffer given more acute nose

By Simon Sharwood

Posted in Security, 4th August 2014 06:29 GMT

Microsoft has emitted a new version of EMET – its Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit.

Redmond often recommends deployment of EMET as a frontline defence against attacks, so the release of a new version is noteworthy.

The big two enhancements that Microsoft is talking up the loudest are an improved Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) tool “... configured to block some modules and plug-ins from being loaded by Internet Explorer while navigating to websites belonging to the Internet Zone”.

The new ASR will “also block the Adobe Flash plug-in from being loaded by Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.” If you really want Flash to load, EMET can be tweaked to make it so.

Redmond's also keen on Export Address Table Filtering Plus, a revision that offers “additional integrity checks on stack registers and stack limits when export tables are read from certain lower-level modules.”

There's also a new EMET service that “... takes care of evaluating the Certificate Trust rules, appropriately dispatching EMET Agents in every user’s instance, and automatically applying Group Policy settings pushed through the network.”

You can get your paws on EMET 5.0 here. ®