What is macro virus and how to protect myself from such viruses?

Macros are widely used in Microsoft Office applications such as Excel, Word or Access to help users to streamline routine jobs with automatized scripts. Macro virus exploits this ability to run customized, malicious code inside those applications.

Macro virus can execute malicious code, replicate itself across files, send spam emails to contacts from your address book, or do other harm.

Best way to protect yourself against macro viruses is not to open Word, Excel and other files containing macros from unknown sources. You can also turn off macros permanently in Word / Excel settings to avoid the risk of being infected. NOTE: Turning macros off will probably disable many functions of your software.