Check Point Advisories

Security Best Practice: Blocking eMule

Check Point Reference:	SBP-2009-25
Date Published:	22 Dec 2009
Severity:	Medium
Last Updated:	Thursday 01 January, 2009
Source:	IPS Research Center
Protection Provided by:
Who is Vulnerable?	eMule users
Vulnerability Description	eMule is a popular peer to peer file sharing application. The distinguishing features of eMule are the direct exchange of sources between client nodes, fast recovery of corrupted downloads, and the use of a credit system to reward frequent uploaders. The use of eMule may circumvent the organizational security policy.
Vulnerability Details	Peer to peer Internet traffic, such as eMule, slows critical business applications on corporate networks. It lowers employee productivity as they take time away from their work to download music and videos. This sort of traffic also significantly increases companies Internet communication costs and requires them to purchase additional bandwidth.