ActiveX

ActiveX is a collection of object-oriented programming tools and technologies that Microsoft has developed for the convenience of rich media playback for Internet Explorer.

Essentially, Internet Explorer uses ActiveX software framework to load other applications in the browser. ActiveX modules are commonly known as controls or ActiveX controls. ActiveX controls, which are somewhat similar to Java applets, extend the functionality of a browser, allowing it to work otherwise it will not be able to do it basically. An ActiveX plug-in allows the browser to take advantage of these capabilities.

What is ActiveX used for?

ActiveX controls can fulfill various types of objectives. For example, the use of ActiveX controls was initially allowed without users to open a media player to play video and other multimedia content directly through the browser. Users can also work with ActiveX to view PDF files or to support flash animation via browser.

Safety issue

ActiveX controls are designed to be reusable. As such, the developer who creates the website does not necessarily have to create their own ActiveX control. In many cases, it was possible for web developers to enable the functionality by using ActiveX controls already present, such as used to run multimedia files.

Because some ActiveX controls are very popular, attackers started looking for ways to exploit weaknesses in normal ActiveX controls. In addition, the attackers started building malicious ActiveX controls.

Malicious use of ActiveX controls became a widespread problem, Microsoft designed Internet Explorer 7 to display a warning every time a site tries to use ActiveX control. It is for the user to decide whether the request comes from reliable sources or not. Today, ActiveX controls are less common than once because many browsers either disable or do not support ActiveX controls by default.

Google Chrome Support

Google Chrome does not support ActiveX originally, but it is possible to add ActiveX Chrome support through the use of browser extensions. To do this, open Chrome, go to More Tools> Extensions. This opens Chrome Web Store. Use the search engine to look for extensions called IE tabs. Add extensions to the browser.

Once the browser extension is done, a small IE icon will appear on the right side of the address bar of Chrome. Click this button to open the IE tab configuration page. This page prompts the user to download and run a file called IETabHelper.exe. By doing this, ActiveX Chrome is in a support point, so the user can access Internet Explorer content, such as ActiveX controls, via Chrome's IE tab.

Microsoft Browser Support

Microsoft Edge Browser does not support the use of ActiveX controls in Windows 10. Internet Explorer 11, which is also included with Windows 10, though the support of ActiveX controls is continuing. However, most of the ActiveX functionality is disabled by default.