As malware, Trojan horses, ransomware, and other viruses came into existence privacy and legacy threats took the back seat. This was because this malware can not just be destructive but can hack our entire system. Also, Antivirus or other security software can force stop these viruses with their detection algorithms.
However, another subset of these viruses can be tough to detect for normal security tools installed on your PC. These are Macro viruses and are definitely more threatening when compared to other viruses. And in the article below we will talk about these macro viruses in detail and how you can get rid of them. So without any further ado let’s begin.
Definition of Macro Virus
A macro virus is a specific type of virus that is written in macro, a programming language embedded within programs like Microsoft Office for automating repetitive tasks. It can infect any PC running any kind of operating system like Linux. macOS, and Windows. Similar to a typical virus, a macro virus acts by injecting its code into macros linked to the main type of data files.
Types of Macro Viruses:
Macro viruses can occur in different forms. However, majorly these viruses can be categorized as follows
- Concept Virus: The first time these viruses were detected was back in July 1995. Concept virus targeted Microsoft Word and over time became dominant.
- Melissa Virus: The first Mellisa virus attack was on 26th March 1999 which infected thousands of users in no time. Notably, this became a serious epidemic cyber attack in the history of the Internet.
Characteristics of Macro Viruses
Just like other computer viruses macro viruses require interactions with humans to activate. It can deliver malware to your device just like the Trojan horse. Moreover, it usesTrojan like characteristics under which the files shown by the virus may seem legitimate, but in reality, they aren’t.
Micro Virus on Macs?
According to Apple’s Marketing strategy in 2006, a misconception was created amongst the users that these devices do not contract with malware. But the truth is Mac devices can be infected by viruses. And can be even attacked by macro viruses.
Macro viruses attack applications or software that is not dependent on your operating system. Hence there’s a possibility that your Mac device can get Macro viruses. But to save all your important data files, you can download a reliable antivirus and mac cleaner app free. These applications can easily remove junk from your Mac. Also, the antivirus can scan for infected or corrupted files and delete them.
How can Macro Viruses Infect Your Device?
As soon as an application gets infected by the micro virus a sequence of commands are executed. Furthermore, this macro infects all the other data documents on your device.
However, macro viruses can also lead to the following
Generation of new files Format hard drive Access your data over email account Irregularities in docs Delete or corrupt data stored on your device Share copies of these infected files with the user’s contacts
How are Micro Viruses Spread?
In general, a macro virus adds its macro code to the document, spreadsheet, or data files. Following are some of the sources of macro viruses
- Shared Infected files
- Data files shared over the network
- Phishing emails
- Downloads through modem
- Intra or Internet file downloads
- URL, ads, or other direct downloads
- Files via removable disks
How to Get Rid of Macro Viruses?
By now after learning about what actually are macro viruses and what are their characteristics you might be sure if your computer has a macro virus. The first thing to do is reboot your Windows or Mac device in safe mode. Further, download a reliable virus scanner and cleaner app on your device.
Before running a virus scan make sure you delete the temporary files to speed up the process. If you already have a real-time antivirus app installed, run the virus scanner manually to identify the malware. This will identify the macro malware on your device and quarantine it from your system files.
What Else can be Done to Prevent Macro Viruses?
- Use the Spam feature on your email to avoid phishing emails.
- Make sure the latest security patches released by the manufacturers of the Operating system are up to date.
- Use reliable and effective antivirus software that warns you every time you try to download infected or suspicious files.
- Double-check before downloading any attachments shared by unknown sources via emails, or others over the network.
Closing Lines:
Hopefully, now you know what Macro Viruses are and how you can easily get rid of them. Make sure you use an antivirus and cleaner that is verified and trusted to keep your data safe.
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