Another Day With My PC

There used to be a time when Web sites were as exciting as your newspaper’s business section. There were hardly any picture on the Web pages back then and interaction was limited to the e-mail address of the webmaster. Surfing the Web 10-15 years ago was like browsing through huge post its!

Web page design has come a long way since then. Text-only Web pages are already relics of the past. Nowadays, you could hardly find any site that has no pictures, videos, or graphical options or controls which allow you to interact with the page. All these would not have been possible if Microsoft had not created ActiveX.

What is ActiveX?

ActiveX is an innovation by Redmond which allows programs to be executed and/or loaded on the Web Site. The codes that ActiveX execute enable the surfer to interact with the page as it gives him a variety of options as to how he could wander about in the site. Take for example your favorite NBA team’s Web site. Whenever you visit their page, you’ll almost always be prompted if you would want ActiveX controls to be executed. Click “yes” and you’ll be presented with a wide array of features, such as being able to vote for your favorite player or view the highlights of last night’s game. Click “no” and you’ll be stuck with a page that doesn’t have much flare to keep you from leaving after 10 seconds.

Is it Dangerous?

While ActiveX controls make the waves we’re surfing on more interesting, it could also make them very perilous. Take note that ActiveX works by executing codes embedded on Web pages. If the codes contain malicious instructions, then you’ll probably be spending your next weekend reformatting your hard drive and reinstalling all your programs and files, that is if you were able to back up all of your precious data.

You should therefore be very cautious in clicking the links that you see. If the URL seems dubious, don’t click on it. If you have the curiosity of a cat, then at least don’t immediately run the ActiveX controls of the page when you’re prompted for it. Examine the index page first before you respond to prompts or queries.

Install Safeguards

While Internet Explorer prompts you if a Web page wants to execute or run an ActiveX control, thereby keeping you safe from malware infection, such feature doesn’t provide you with an adequate security or safeguard. Malicious codes usually target the Windows registry first. Hence, investing in a registry cleaner is imperative. Hackers have more than one ingenious method by which you could be tricked into running a malicious ActiveX control. If you do fall for those, your registry cleaner and antivirus would be there to catch you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 12:11 am and is filed under PC Security, Registry Problems, Registry Cleaners, Malware . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.