Imagine this situation: Saturday morning, you're still switching on the computer at the sound of the coffee machine. You want to check your email inbox. You've received an email from the manager with a document written in Word. You assume from the subject that it's something important. You click on the attachment. The attachment is downloading. Opening Microsoft Word 2019. The computer's cursor starts to move by itself. Windows Defender reports the discovery of malicious software on your computer. A few minutes later, your bank informs you about suspicious movements... But why did this happen?
Most security experts are on the lookout for malicious emails containing files with the extension “.exe“. Recently, hackers and scammers have discovered a feature in Word, called macro.
A macro is a series of commands and instructions that are grouped together into a single unit to perform a task automatically.
Microsoft
Macros can run as soon as you start a document. They can open PowerShell and your computer is down before you realize. In most cases... Vulnerability applies specifically to Microsoft Office products 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2021. Such fraudulent files have the endings .doc and .docx. These endings are very common for Word documents. Faulty files can spread through unsolicited emails, for example. Now, everyone should be careful when opening Word files. But this does not mean that every Word document is harmful.
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