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How Google Is Stopping Malicious Office Docs From Targeting Gmail Users

PC Magazine: “At the RSA security conference today, Google offered a rare look into the kinds of malicious attachments hackers will send to Gmail users. It turns out Microsoft Office documents secretly rigged to download malware are in vogue. In recent weeks, about 56 percent of the malicious attachments detected and blocked by Gmail’s filters have been Microsoft Office documents, according to Google’s anti-abuse research leader, Elie Bursztein. These malicious Office documents can often contain “macros,” or series of automated commands in the file. If you enable the macros, the malicious document will be able to download and execute the hacker’s desired malware. The remaining 44 percent of the malicious documents Google will block include Adobe PDF documents, archived files, and HTML-based documents, among others. (By default, Gmail will also prevent users from attaching .exe programs and Javascript files to email messages.) …”

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