Auto Macros are easy to foil, but other macros can be set to trigger whenever you click on any menu or toolbar button or even trigger when you press almost any key on the keyboard. Virtually any action, short of switching off the PC, may trigger a macro. The ease of using the Internet has increased the swapping of documents, spreadsheets etc. making it so much easier for problems to replicate quickly anywhere in the World. The macros can be targeted at a specific individual or organisation. A victim need simply click on an e-mail attachment and the macros can activate.
Concept is by far the most prevalent virus known and detected .
It does not, however, fit the definition of malware fully, being an unfinished prototype with its so-called 'payload' missing. The potential for macro firewall-hoppers was quickly realised by discussion groups on the Internet, soon after Concept hit the scene in July 1995. These macros can readily obtain, and e-mail back, inside information about an organisation's internal computer network. Such information can be invaluable to a hacker attempting to beat the firewall's defences. These programs retrieve log-on passwords and are readily available on the Internet, if you know where to look.