The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) has warned the public of an email scam by cybercriminals using Macros.
SLCERT said it has received a number of complaints regarding internet users receiving emails under the pretext of a known contact.
“Most of these emails contain a Microsoft Office document (It could be an office document file, excel document file or any other document file related to Microsoft Office package) as an attachment. When users open the said attachment there will be a prompt asking the user to run macros. Macros are small programs that can be written inside Microsoft Office Package files’, the SLCERT said.
It further said cybercriminals use this macro to write malicious programs and send them as an email attachment in the form of a Microsoft Office file. These macro-enabled documents could install malicious programs or it could enable attackers to connect to computers and tamper with personal data.
The SLCERT has advised users to refrain from opening suspicious email attachments received from parties pretending to be a known contact.
Users have also been requested to refrain from running macros when prompted to enable macros in the downloaded attachment. (Colombo Gazette)