Recently, I wrote an article called Web security features of
Internet Explorer 8. In that article, I explained that although
better security was one of Microsoft's stated goals, it was a
secondary goal and that Internet Explorer 8 was designed
primarily to improve Web-based standards. Internet Explorer (IE)
security's biggest enemy is the browser-based exploit, and
Microsoft worked hard in versions 6 and 7 to make Internet
Explorer less vulnerable to exploits related to malicious code
built into Web pages. But there is still a lot of work to be
done. The role of ActiveX in browser exploits Often, these types
of exploits are delivered through ActiveX controls, software
modules that are based on Microsoft's Component Object Model
(COM) architecture. ActiveX controls are kind of like miniature
applications that can act as browser plug-ins. Essentially, they
allow a website to interact directly with Windows and to perform
functions that would be impossible using standard HTML code or
scripting techniques. Unfortu