Active X Defined

ActiveX. ActiveX is Microsoft's framework for making Windows type appplications available through a Web browser. With an ActiveX enabled browser you can embed applications in a Web page much like you would embed a Java applet (in fact, you can embed a Java Applet using ActiveX). A good example is Microsoft's Powerpoint Animation Player for ActiveX, a plug-in that allows web browsers to present powerpoint presentations over the Web with the same quality of the original presentation.

There is still ongoing debate about the security of ActiveX controls. An ActiveX control is essientially a Windows program that runs on a Web page, so, in theory, it is possible to write an ActiveX control to do things like reformat a drive, scan for private files on your hard drive, etc. The famous Windows Exploder is an example of the dangerous potential of an ActiveX control. If you load Exploder from a Web browser, it will automatically shut down your computer in 10 seconds. Normally, nothing simply viewed in a browser should have the permissions to do something of this nature (even viruses you must download before they start to be harmful.

To curtail some of the danger inherient with the technology, you should always make sure that an ActiveX control is signed. Your Web browser should automatically detect whether an ActiveX control has been signed. This simply means that it has been registered with a corporation such as VeriSign and that the person who registered it is stating that it doesn't have any nasty side-effects. Of course, this isn't a full proof security method either. The best advice: Don't launch just any ActiveX control. Also, you can set up your browser to be very discriminating about what it will launch. See your browser's security section for specifics.