Office 2013 In Depth

Digitally Signing Macros

We have already discussed the fact the macros can be a security risk and that the security settings for the Office applications are geared toward not allowing macros to run by default. So another alternative for verifying that your macros are not malware is to digitally sign the macro project (which can contain a number of macros). This enables you to use and share the macros without enabling macros in the Security Center and lessens the possibility of executing a “bad” macro.

After you digitally sign your macro projects, you can change the macro settings in the Trust Center to use the Disable All Macros Except Digitally Signed Macros option. Collaborators and other users who might use your templates or other files that ...