Security News > 2020 > April > Microsoft Office 365: This new feature will keep you safe from malware-filled documents
Application Guard for Office and Safe Documents will make phishing attacks harder and the Office experience better for users, starting with Office 365 Pro Plus and E5 licences.
It's a big step forward because Office macros, embedded scripts, active content like OLE and COM controls, and documents with obfuscated links to malware remain a major source of attacks - and Protected View leaves a key security decision up to users who may be ill-equipped to decide which documents are safe.
There is still a way to take documents out of the Application Guard sandbox, using the Safe Documents feature that's already in Office Insider public preview.
It will work automatically for Outlook attachments, documents downloaded from any domain that's not your intranet or a trusted site, and files in untrusted folders like the Temporary Internet folder, as long as Application Guard is enabled as a Windows 10 feature, the documents are opened in Office 365 ProPlus and you have either a Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 Security E5 license.
Because Safe Documents and Application Guard feed information about dangerous documents back into the Microsoft Security Graph, they indirectly protect users who don't have Office 365 ProPlus or an E5 licence.
News URL
Related news
- New Microsoft script updates Windows media with bootkit malware fixes (source)
- Microsoft says attackers use exposed ASP.NET keys to deploy malware (source)
- HPE notifies employees of data breach after Russian Office 365 hack (source)
- FINALDRAFT Malware Exploits Microsoft Graph API for Espionage on Windows and Linux (source)
- Microsoft spots XCSSET macOS malware variant used for crypto theft (source)
- Microsoft Uncovers New XCSSET macOS Malware Variant with Advanced Obfuscation Tactics (source)
- Microsoft launches ad-supported Office apps for Windows users (source)
- Microsoft tests ad-supported Office apps for Windows users (source)
- Microsoft Teams tactics, malware connect Black Basta, Cactus ransomware (source)
- Microsoft admits GitHub hosted malware that infected almost a million devices (source)