// THREAT DETECTION AND DATA PRIVACY TERM
Macro Virus
A macro virus is a type of computer virus that is written in a macro language and embedded into documents, such as a Microsoft Word or Excel file. It executes when the document is opened and macros are enabled, which can then infect the user's computer and spread to other documents.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
A macro virus is a form of malware that utilizes the macro programming language of software applications, primarily Microsoft Office's Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), to execute malicious code. This document-based threat vector, often distributed via phishing emails, activates when a user enables macros, facilitating payload delivery, data exfiltration, and system compromise.
BACKGROUND
A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code into those programs. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a computer virus, a metaphor derived from biological viruses.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- document macro virus
- macro malware
- Office macro virus
- VBA malware
- document-based threat
- scripting virus
USAGE NOTE
Modern software disables macros by default, so these attacks rely heavily on social engineering to trick a user into manually enabling them.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to Macro Virus.
As the creator of the Office suite, Microsoft develops security technologies directly within their applications and through their Defender for Endpoint and Defender for Office 365 products. These solutions include features to block macros from the internet, use sandboxing for attachment analysis, and employ attack surface reduction rules to prevent macro-based threats.
A leading email security company whose core technology is designed to detect and block threats before they reach the user. Their platform analyzes incoming email attachments, including Office documents, using static and dynamic analysis (sandboxing) to identify and quarantine malicious macros.
CrowdStrike's Falcon platform is a leading Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution that uses behavioral AI and threat intelligence. It focuses on detecting malicious behavior patterns, or Indicators of Attack (IOAs), allowing it to identify and stop a macro virus based on its actions (e.g., spawning a command shell) rather than its signature.
Palo Alto Networks' WildFire is a cloud-based malware analysis service that is integrated into their security platform. It can automatically execute suspicious files, including Office documents, in a virtual sandbox environment to observe their behavior and identify malicious macros before they can infect a network.
Formed from the merger of McAfee Enterprise and FireEye, Trellix offers a comprehensive suite of security products. Their technology, inherited from FireEye, includes advanced sandboxing for network and email security that is highly effective at detecting evasive, unknown threats embedded within documents, including macro viruses.
The Symantec security division of Broadcom provides endpoint, email, and network security solutions. Their products use a multi-layered approach including signature-based detection, advanced machine learning, and behavioral analysis to identify and block documents containing malicious macros.
Sophos develops endpoint security solutions like Intercept X, which uses deep learning, an advanced form of machine learning, to detect both known and unknown malware without relying on signatures. This technology is particularly effective at analyzing file attributes to predict if a document contains a malicious macro.
Trend Micro offers a range of security products that protect against macro viruses. Their solutions employ techniques like behavioral analysis, machine learning, and sandboxing to analyze document files for suspicious macro code and activities across endpoints, email, and the network.