Both Office Macros and Application Hardening are items which exist more in your IT team’s world than average joe-user. However, we’re going to talk about them so you understand what’s going on when you can’t do an action on your device and your IT team tell you that they had to disable that function for CyberSecurity purposes.

The term Office Macros comes from the fact that Microsoft Office and other systems can run a thing called “Macros”. These are snippets of programming code which do a task on your behalf. For example, a macro could run through a whole lot of the cells in a spreadsheet and do some custom processing.

Unfortunately, a macro can also run through a bunch of files on your computer and load a keylogger which steals everything you type. Or upload the passwords you saved in your browser to their file server so they can break into your bank accounts. Macros were meant for good, but now they’re banned because of the havoc they cause.

In most Office applications:
Go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Macro Settings
Select "Disable all macros with notification" (recommended) or "Disable all macros without notification" (most secure)

Application hardening is the process of making software more secure by removing vulnerabilities, closing off unnecessary features, and adding extra protective layers - essentially making it as difficult as possible for attackers to exploit. Think of it like fortifying a house. When software comes "out of the box," it's often configured for convenience and maximum functionality - not maximum security. Application hardening is like going through that software and systematically making it tougher to break into.

Application Hardening attempts to remove misused abilities from a program by disabling them.An example of this was Internet Explorer – it was able to do lots of things like offer your saved passwords to a hacker when they asked for them nicely! As a result, most systems disable or uninstall Internet Explorer. Java is another thing which is misused a lot. Many programs require Java to run, however when we allow websites to run a java program inside a web browser, or on the system, things can go very badly for the security of the system. So a good IT team disables this ability.

Application Hardening require technical assistance to address in most cases, although some antivirus systems will also complete basic hardening steps.

Lesson 4: Application Hardening and Office Macros