Security News

Threat actors are finding their way around Microsoft's default blocking of macros in its Office suite, using alternative files to host malicious payloads now that a primary channel for threat delivery is being cut off, researchers have found. The beginning of the decrease coincided with Microsoft's plan to start blocking XL4 macros by default for Excel users, followed up with the blocking of VBA macros by default across the Office suite this year.

Hackers who normally distributed malware via phishing attachments with malicious macros gradually changed tactics after Microsoft Office began blocking them by default, switching to new file types such as ISO, RAR, and Windows Shortcut attachments.VBA and XL4 Macros are small programs created to automate repetitive tasks in Microsoft Office applications, which threat actors abuse for loading, dropping, or installing malware via malicious Microsoft Office document attachments sent in phishing emails.

The phrase Office macros is a harmless-sounding, low-tech name that refers, in real life, to program code you can squirrel away inside Office files so that the code travels along with the text of a document, or the formulas of a spreadsheet, or the slides in a presentation. Even though the code is hidden from sight in the file, it can nevertheless sneakily spring into life as soon as you use the file in any way.

Microsoft is shutting the door on a couple of routes cybercriminals have used to attack users and networks. The issue of macros has become a particularly gnarly one for the software giant.

Microsoft has officially resumed blocking Visual Basic for Applications macros by default across Office apps, weeks after temporarily announcing plans to roll back the change. Earlier this February, Microsoft publicized its plans to disable macros by default in Office applications such as Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio, and Word as a way to prevent threat actors from abusing the feature to deliver malware.

End users can find more information on the next steps after macros are blocked in a downloaded Office document on the A potentially dangerous macro has been blocked support page. IT admins can find dedicated documentation on the Macros from the Internet will be blocked by default in Office page.

End users can find more information on the next steps after macros are blocked in a downloaded Office document on the A potentially dangerous macro has been blocked support page. IT admins can find dedicated documentation on the Macros from the Internet will be blocked by default in Office page.

Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office offers a robust imaging tool that walks you through the process of creating a full image of your running machine and gives you a choice of destinations to house the image. Doesn't it? Fear not: Even if you're not the most adept at using technology, you can successfully create an image of your system with Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office.

Whether it's Slack or Office 365, communication and workflow apps are an essential tool for organizations to collaborate efficiently regardless of geography. Using any of these as a primary communication channel, replacing email and knowledge management repositories, makes it a new target to exploit that contains sensitive information.

DOUG. A brief history of Office macros, a Log4Shell style bug, two OpenSSL crypto bugs, and more. DUCK. If you have a Windows network where you can use Group Policy, for example, then as an administrator you can turn this function on to say, "As a company, we just don't want macros off the internet. We're not going to even offer you a button that you can say, Why not? Why not let the macros run?".