Macro Scanner To Block Malware Now Available with Office 365 ProPlus

Last week Microsoft announced that it has turned on Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) technology to protect against malicious macros for Office 365 ProPlus subscribers. Although it has been around since 2015, AMSI is now newly integrated with Office 365 ProPlus. Microsoft turned AMSI on by default "on the Monthly Channel for Office 365 client applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Visio and Publisher," Microsoft indicated in its Sept. 12 announcement. With AMSI turned on, IT pros can get greater control over what macros do at runtime. It's also possible to detect malicious software even in obfuscated code, Microsoft's announcement suggested. A new Group Policy security setting called "Macro Runtime Scan Scope" is now available with AMSI. This policy lets IT pros disable scanning for all documents, enable scanning for low-trust documents or enable scanning for all documents.