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KNOW WHICH ACTIVEX PROGRAMMS ARE "HIDING" UNDER THE HOOD OF
YOUR SYSTEM
Hacker's
attacks exploit any vulnerability available in your system and ActiveX
components are the most vulnerable ones on a windows system. Therefore,
if you are concerned about the security of your computer, then you should
also be concerned about running ActiveX.
Remember the early days of Internet, when the webpages load only
text and no graphics, no form to input data into? At these times in the
early 1980's (the Middle Ages of the Internet,) there was no interaction
between the surfer and the pages consulted.
Then in 1996, Microsoft renamed OLE 2.0 technology (Object Linking
and Embedding)
to ActiveX and introduced ActiveX Components / Controls that
enable websites to run additional Windows programs over the internet
to transforming webpages from tombstones to interactive ones.
With ActiveX, a website can be transformed into an interactive platform that
makes it user friendly to using tools such as online mortgage calculators
or online payment interfaces: PayPal, Google Checkout and the likes.
The introduction of ActiveX technology was a leap forward in the surfing experience,
but unfortunately, it also had opened the gate for attacks to computers by mischievous
people who exploit security vulnerability linked to its usage.
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ACTIVEX COMPONENTS COULD BECOME GATE-OPENER FOR HACKERS ATTACKS
Indeed, any piece of software that knows how to load and use ActiveX
controls is an ActiveX control container. Popular ActiveX control containers
include Visual Basic, PowerBuilder, and Microsoft's web browser, Internet
Explorer. There is a large third-party market in this technology,
with hundreds of companies building and selling reusable components
packaged as ActiveX controls. [Source]
ActiveX controls are little pieces of code placed in web pages that download
Windows compatible programs onto your computer. While some ActiveX controls download
useful programs that make surfing a user friendly experience as above briefly
outlined, they also provide, unfortunately,
attacking tools to hackers to take control of your computer.
Hackers can use ActiveX components / controls to inject viruses, worms, Trojans
into your system to create havoc - when you visit rogue
websites. Worse, they can use your email client to send these
beasts to all your contacts.
Hackers can use ActiveX component / control to run stealth programs that can
retrieve passwords and private data from your hard disk.
They can use ActiveX to "dial-up" inappropriate
websites that charge per minute and run up huge bills.
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KNOW WHICH ACTIVEX PROGRAMMS ARE "HIDING"
Such mischievous attacks above briefly listed were common occurrences with
brands of the windows operating system prior to windows XP. Microsoft had
done a tremendous job to beef up security, particularly with XP Service
Pack2. Windows Vista is taking the precaution further.
Nevertheless, even with XP Service Pack2
and the monthly security updates delivered by Microsoft, you might
still be at risk surfing the World Wilde Web as hackers can manage to by-pass
security sentinels installed on your system. [44, 71, 84]
Therefore, it is a god thing to keep a watch on the ActiveX components
/ controls that are present in your system.
There are several utility that assist keeping an eye on these ActiveX.
Secure
IE is one of them. You have to shed few bucks to get it. If you
opt for a freeware client, just scroll down to Freebie' section to review
and get a free client.
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MAKE USE OF A FREE CLIENT TO TRACE ACTIVEX ON YOUR SYSTEM
In line with Control Your
Desktop' subject about ActiveX, here is ActiveXHelper a free
utility that assist you list ActiveX Components and Controls present under the
hood of your computer. It does that in a seamless way and provide many listing
options. When you first run ActiveXHelper, the following options are displayed:
1- Load ActiveX list from the following Registry key: If you choose
this option, the CLSID list is loaded from the Registry key that
your specify. By default, the list is loaded from KEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID
- which means that all ActiveX components on your computer will be
displayed - a very long list !
2- Load ActiveX list from the following
text file: If you choose this option, the ActiveX list is loaded
from the text file that you specify. The text file should contain
a list of CLSIDs (e.g.: {01E9E99D-9E81-4CEF-0AA5-C62667469295}) and/or
ProgIDs (e.g.: ADODB.Stream, DAO.DBEngine) separated by comma or
CRLF characters.
3- Load ActiveX list from the following CLSID/ProgID
list: If you choose this option, the ActiveX list is loaded from
the text-box below this option. As in the previous option, the text
you specify should contain a list of CLSIDs and ProgIDs, separated
by comma or CRLF characters.
4- If you check the "List only ActiveX
controls" option, only ActiveX controls are displayed.
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