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      ACSC E8 Nov 2023-ML1 Restrict Office macros-Block

      Overview

      The Devicie Essential Eight Maturity Level 1 Restrict Office Macros (Block) (Nov 2023) configuration is to meet the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s guidance for this mitigation strategy.

      Intune Description:

      E8 ML1 Restrict Office Macros (Block) (Nov 2023)

      Scope:

      This baseline should be applied to Windows devices.

      Policy Impact Areas:

      When deployed, this policy will impact:

      • Blocking when users attempt to use macros, within all Office 365 products

      Deployment Notes

      1. Pre-Deployment Considerations:

        • Recommended to utilise “DEVICIE-PROD-ACSC E8 Nov 2023-ML1 Restrict Office macros-Allow with prompt” first, to measure user impact.

        • Consider users who may be impacted by this change (typically finance teams). Note that this is a block policy, so effective communication with user feedback will assist in longer term deployments to higher levels of controls.

      2. Post-Deployment Validation:

        • Attempt to run a macro within Excel

      Configuration Settings:

      Name

      Value

      Administrative Templates

      Attachment Manager

      Hide mechanisms to remove zone information (User)

      Enabled

      Microsoft Access 2016

      Trust Center

      Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off trusted documents (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off Trusted Documents on the network (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Trusted Locations

      Allow Trusted Locations on the network (User)

      Disabled

      Disable all trusted locations (User)

      Enabled

      Microsoft Excel 2016

      Trust Center

      Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet (User)

      Enabled

      Trust access to Visual Basic Project (User)

      Disabled

      Turn off trusted documents (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off Trusted Documents on the network (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Trusted Locations

      Allow Trusted Locations on the network (User)

      Disabled

      Disable all trusted locations (User)

      Enabled

      Microsoft Office 2016

      Security Settings

      Automation Security (User)

      Enabled

        Set the Automation Security level (User)

      Disable macros by default

      Disable VBA for Office applications (User)

      Enabled

      Macro Runtime Scan Scope (User)

      Enabled

       

      Enable for all documents

      Trust Center

      Allow mix of policy and user locations (User)

      Disabled

      Microsoft Outlook 2016

      Security Form Settings

      Outlook Security Mode (User)

      Enabled

        Outlook Security Policy: (User)

      Use Outlook Security Group Policy

        Security setting for macros (User)

      Enabled

          Security Level (User)

      Never warn, disable all

      Trust Center

      Apply macro security settings to macros, add-ins and additional actions (User)

      Enabled

      Microsoft PowerPoint 2016

      Trust Center

      Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet (User)

      Enabled

      Trust access to Visual Basic Project (User)

      Disabled

      Turn off trusted documents (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off Trusted Documents on the network (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Trusted Locations

      Allow Trusted Locations on the network (User)

      Disabled

      Disable all trusted locations (User)

      Enabled

      Microsoft Project 2016

      Trust Center

      Allow Trusted Locations on the network (User)

      Disabled

      Disable all trusted locations (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Microsoft Publisher 2016

      Security

      Publisher Automation Security Level (User)

      Enabled

       

      High (disabled)

      Trust Center

      Block macros from running in Office files from the internet (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Microsoft Visio 2016

      Macro Security

      Enable Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications project creation (User)

      Disabled

      Load Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications projects from text (User)

      Disabled

      Trust Center

      Allow Trusted Locations on the network (User)

      Disabled

      Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet (User)

      Enabled

      Disable all trusted locations (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off trusted documents (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off Trusted Documents on the network (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Microsoft Word 2016

      Trust Center

      Block macros from running in Office files from the Internet (User)

      Enabled

      Trust access to Visual Basic Project (User)

      Disabled

      Turn off trusted documents (User)

      Enabled

      Turn off Trusted Documents on the network (User)

      Enabled

      VBA Macro Notification Settings (User)

      Enabled

       

      Disable all without notification

      Trusted Locations

      Allow Trusted Locations on the network (User)

      Disabled

      Disable all trusted locations (User)

      Enabled

       

      Devicie Template Name

      ACSC E8 Nov 2023-ML1 Restrict Office macros-Block

      Default Intune Deployed Name

      DEVICIE-PROD-ACSC E8 Nov 2023-ML1 Restrict Office macros-Block

      Version

      1.0

      Template Last Updated

      Nov 18, 2024

      Document Last Updated:

      Jun 12, 2025