Microsoft adds macros lockdown feature in Office 2016 in response to increasing attacks

Enterprise system administrators can now block attackers from using a favorite malware infection method: Microsoft Office documents with malicious macros.

Microsoft this week added a new option in Office 2016 that allows administrators to block macros — embedded automation scripts — from running in Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents that originate from the Internet.

Microsoft Office programs support macros written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and they can be used for malicious activities like installing malware. Macro viruses were popular more than a decade ago but became almost extinct after Microsoft disabled macros by default in its Office programs.

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