Concept in Definition ABC

Theoretically, a browser web or browser is a computer program whose mission is to present web pages to the Internet user, but in recent years it has become a platform for the execution of applications, endowing it with greater capabilities than it was capable of doing at first, and reaching far beyond where theoretically -and by its simple definition- should.

This escalation of functionalities of the browser it has its history, and ActiveX components are part of it.

ActiveX is a technology developed by Microsoft consisting of independent modules that are loaded in a web browser, allowing to expand its functionalities.

The company from Redmond released this technology in 1996 as an easy answer to the complicated technologies existing at the time to adapt browsers to a greater number and diversity of functionalities.

The ActiveXs were not only easy to develop, but also to install in the browser, in a very transparent way to the Username, since sometimes they did not even request permission for their installation.

This lack of knowledge of its use by the user led to its exploitation by cybercriminals and creators of malware, which earned ActiveX technology a bad name in the field of safety.

Despite the fact that Microsoft created tools to further secure the ActiveX controls installed in the browser and their management, such as, for example, a section in the configuration of the browser in which the user could deactivate and uninstall the controls, the measures were insufficient to alleviate a wide trail of holes in safety that were emerging in the ActiveX control system over time.

However, it should be noted that plug-ins External have always been the biggest security problem of web browsers, and not only in the case of the binomial Internet Explorer-ActiveX.

Technologies such as Java applets or plug-in Flash (Adobe) have always been a source of security holes and problems in this regard.

It is normal, on the other hand, that the interface between two program modules is the weakest point in the security chain.

Taking this into account, and that the HTML standard that moves the Web has been incorporating new functionalities such as reproduction native to video, browsers are increasingly self-sufficient and no longer need external components.

ActiveX technology has been permanently eliminated with the introduction of Microsoft's new Edge web browser, which replaces Internet Explorer.

This new browser is not a new version of IE nor is it based on the previous one browserRather, it is a totally new development starting from the ground up.

That is why the redmond company has preferred to cut with outdated technologies, such as ActiveX.

Thus, and as a warning to surfers, any website that requests to install a component in our system ActiveX should be denied by the system because, after this, a trap may hide to infect us with some kind of malware.

Photo: Fotolia - Robert Kneschke

ActiveX themes