Back 
Summary
In January 2022, Microsoft announced that Excel 4.0 macros will be restricted by default, as a measure to protect customers against malware based on XLM 4.0 macros. As a more aggressive measure, on February 07, 2022, Microsoft announced that they will start blocking VBA macros for files downloaded from the internet. This is an important step toward security as Office documents containing malicious VBA code are commonly abused by attackers to deliver other threats, such as BazarLoader, Trickbot, and remote access trojans like AveMaria and AgentTesla. In January 2022, 31% of all malware downloads Netskope blocked were malicious Office files.
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a powerful tool for automation within Office files, but it also provides many resources for attackers, especially when combined with LoLBins. In 2021, Netskope described many different techniques used by attackers through VBA macros. Earlier in 2022, we also identified a malicious campaign that was using Web Archives to abuse Microsoft Office.
Previously, Microsoft Office applications required users to click “Enable” in a dialog box to run macros. So, attackers would simply use social engineering to convince their victims to click “Enable”. The hope is that the new stance of blockin