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Microsoft Updates AMSI in Office 365 to Stop Macro Malware in Excel XLM

Microsoft’s Antimalware Scan Interface in Office 365 will now scan Excel files received in the older XLM language for macro malware.

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is expanding the capabilities of Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) in to better thwart macro attacks. The productivity suite can now scan Excel 4.0 XLM macros during running.

Macro malware is one of the oldest methods, at least amongst those still in use today. Threat actors have been turning to macros since the 90s, and still getting some success. That's because this is a simple technique for pushing malware onto a system.

Just last year, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft said customers were getting macro emails. Specifically, emails with attachments loaded with malicious macros.

Microsoft has long been protecting its services against macro threats. This involves an integration between Office 365 and the company's Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI). However, most those efforts were focused on taking out more modern macros in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

Updating AMSI

Ever the resourceful bunch, hackers simply reverted back older macro languages… XLM. This was a language that shipped with Excel 4.0 way back in 1992. VBA arrived in 1993, but XLM remains a recognized language. Microsoft is now allowing ASMI to also tackle XLM content.

“While more rudimentary than VBA, XLM is powerful enough to provide interoperability with the operating system, and many organizations and users continue to use its functionality for legitimate purposes. Cybercriminals know this, and they have been abusing XLM macros, increasingly more frequently, to call Win32 APIs and run shell commands,” says Microsoft's security team.

“Naturally, threat actors like those behind Trickbot, Zloader, and Ursnif have looked elsewhere for features to abuse and operate under the radar of security solutions, and they found a suitable alternative in XLM,” it continues.

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SourceMicrosoft
Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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