A virus that travels as a macro embedded in documents. Such viruses remain dormant until the infected file is opened. Then, if the virus is malicious, the virus may damage other files, perform a prank, or infect other files. Some macro viruses will delete all files in a directory or your entire hard drive. Others are more benign, simply attaching their code to documents. Once an infected file is opened, the virus will usually infect all files that are opened afterward until the virus is removed by software that disinfects the appropriate template file. Macro viruses are quickly spread through email messages or shared files.