ActiveX® is a Microsoft® OOP technology that allows software applications to share functionality and information. It evolved into COM and is used in Internet Explorer® for multimedia playback. ActiveX® controls can be reused, making them vulnerable to spyware, but Internet Explorer® has added features to protect against this.
ActiveX® is a set of object-oriented programming (OOP) technologies created by Microsoft®. Allows software applications to share functionality and information. An ActiveX® object is a self-contained program that runs only on Windows® operating systems.
ActiveX® was created to ensure that several applications share the same functions. The best example of this is the spell checker ActiveX® object. Instead of writing two separate spelling checker programs, a single spelling checker object was created to ensure that its functionality is shared between different Microsoft® applications such as Word and PowerPoint®.
ActiveX® technology evolved in the form of object linking and embedding (OLE). OLE allowed simple functions like cut and paste to be shared between different applications. It later evolved into the idea of the compound object module (COM). Independent modules and applets such as the spell checker are COM or ActiveX® objects that can be accessed from a Windows® application.
An ActiveX® control is a plug-in or small program written in C++ and Visual Basic. Just like Java applets, ActiveX® controls are small applications that run inside web browsers. Programs that support such plug-ins are called ActiveX® containers or component containers.
Microsoft® Internet Explorer® (IE) (the standard web browser for the Windows® operating system) uses ActiveX® controls or objects to facilitate multimedia content playback. This type of control in Internet Explorer® allows users to watch video clips on the web page. Users don’t need to launch Windows® Media Player separately to watch clips. Preloaded ActiveX® control accesses Media Player functionality and plays clips in Internet Explorer® browser window.
Another example of an ActiveX® object is the Flash® ActiveX® control. Flash® files can only be played by an Adobe Flash® player. Some websites are programmed entirely with Flash®, which Internet Explorer® cannot reproduce. Therefore, a Flash ActiveX® component is installed to view the site. Automatically detects sites containing flash files and accesses Flash® Player to play the files right in your browser window.
The fact that these controls can be reused by many programs has made it more vulnerable to malicious spyware. An attacker can reuse the component to add malicious code and gain access to personal data and files. To get a complete solution, Microsoft® has added some features to Internet Explorer®. Every time a site tries to install the ActiveX® control, Internet Explorer® displays a warning. This means that a site cannot automatically install an ActiveX® component, thus ensuring that your system is protected and free of spyware.
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