Microsoft’s Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) version 5.5 was released on February 2.

EMET is not a substitute for anti-malware software, but it does provide an additional layer of security against typical malware activity. If malware finds its way onto your Windows computer, EMET can prevent it from causing actual damage; by default, it kills the affected process.

EMET is free, and recommended. Unfortunately, when you use EMET, there’s a chance that it will cause problems for legitimate software. A few weeks ago – before EMET 5.5 was released – EMET started reporting problems with my main computer’s Office software, including Outlook and Excel. I was forced to disable some of EMET’s detection settings for those programs. I had hoped that EMET 5.5 would resolve these issues, but it did not.

Still, EMET can be a useful addition to your security toolkit, if you’re willing to put up with the occasional glitch.