Security News > 2022 > July > How to auto block macros in Microsoft Office docs from the internet
This article will explain why users should block macros in Internet downloads and how you can block them in Microsoft Office.
To prevent this distribution method, Microsoft announced in February that Microsoft Office would automatically block VBA macros in documents downloaded from the Internet starting in June.
Soon after the feature went live in June, Microsoft suddenly and without any real explanation rolled back this change, leaving Windows and Microsoft Office users once again at risk from Office documents with malicious macros.
Before we explain how to automatically block macros in Microsoft Office files downloaded from the Internet, it is essential to understand a Windows feature called the 'Mark-of-the-Web'.
Since 2016, Microsoft has had a Microsoft Office group policy called 'Block macros from running Office files from the Internet that will automatically prevent macros from running on documents containing a 'Mark-of-the-Web.'.
To automatically block macros in Microsoft Office files downloaded from the Internet, navigate to the 'Block macros from running Office files from the Internet' policy for the application you want to secure and set the policy to Enabled.