Time To Kill ActiveX?

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With the ActiveX controls posing so many security problems lately, some are saying it is time to kill Active X. What do you guys think? Seriously, is it time to stop using Active X? Or are things being blown out of proportion?

Responding to several recent high-profile ActiveX vulnerabilities reported by security researchers since early January, Microsoft on Sunday came to the defense of its ActiveX technology. In a post on its Security Vulnerability Research & Defense blog, the company says that it has investigated reports of two ActiveX control vulnerabilities disclosed in early January and has come to the conclusion that they're not dangerous because Internet Explorer will not trust them to execute scripts.
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I like the idea of a scripting engine like ActiveX. But, the implementation model that Microsoft chose and tying it so closely to the host operating system was what has made it the security and compatibility nightmare it is today.

As it exists currently, ActiveX should be killed and not even offered the benefit of funeral and burial.
 
KILL,KILL,KILL,KILL!!

i say kill it if MS does not make it secure. we don't need more problems.
 
I'm not sure if ActiveX is to blame, but rather users for going to porn sites or trying to sign up for free iPods or viagra. Firefox doesn't use ActiveX and it has it's own share of vulnerabilities. I'm sure with ActiveX gone, hackers and malware writers will find another way into your computer, then not even Firefox will be the "safer" browser!
 
it sucks that that people are stupid enough to install those risk active x controls. I don't see any problem with active x and its implementation.

come on people it even asks you if you want to install it. so don't do it.


sigh
 
KILL.

lives too close in with the OS.

we need a spec that anyone can develop for, so all OSs and browsers could implement whichever part we want. even cell phones.
 
Yep kill it.
I've had it disabled for over 2 years and suffer no problems unless I visit Windows update.
I bet MS want to keep it so when you visit them you have to be using Internet Explorer not say Firefox.
 
It should have been sandboxed a long time ago, but it is still useful in many circumstances. It will take a very long time to die since it's used extensively off-line.
 
Never had it, never will.

Seriously I have never used IE. I used Netscape, then Opera, now Firefox and I never used an activeX plugin. If a page used ActiveX, I just didn't go there.

I also don't use MS Office, MS media player, or Outlook...

So I won't miss it when it is gone, since I never used it in the first place.
 
"Yes, they deserve to die, and I hope they burn in hell!"
 
ActiveX needed to be killed a long, long time ago. It was a bad idea to begin with....or at least a bad implementation.

 
ActiveX needs to die a painful death. My university uses Track-It! as their main helpdesk software, including Track-It! Web Server, which is written with ActiveX in mind. That made my forced-jump to Kubuntu impossible, because even when running Internet Explorer 5.5 in Wine, the ActiveX portion of it made it impossible for me to create or remove work orders.

Kill it with fire!
 
Kill it.
It's proprietary and closed and forces IE on people.
 
Who's a webDev? That'd be the people who really can answer that. ActiveX doesn't seem to bother me. I used to hate Netscape's Plugin. Plugin this, plug in that.... TOO many damn plugins.
 
killling ActiveX would wreak havoc on tons of large company intranets. So many intranet apps use activex along with AD.
 
4saken said:
killling ActiveX would wreak havoc on tons of large company intranets. So many intranet apps use activex along with AD.
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Then so be it. Anybody with half a brain knew that ActiveX was ripe for abuse. The same people who thought ActiveX was a good idea were the same people who got ARM loans. ;)
 
That time came about 3 days before it was even released.

Firefox does just fine without ActiveMess.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Then so be it. Anybody with half a brain knew that ActiveX was ripe for abuse. The same people who thought ActiveX was a good idea were the same people who got ARM loans. ;)
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I blame the loan officers for conning some of these people into ARM loans.
 
I have to call bull shit on it forcing IE on people. The people using active x to make the web apps are the ones forcing it on you. Just like how people that make programs that only run on windows forces windows.

If it was to be killed off then what would be its replacement. Also do you think that everyone is going to redo all their stuff to get rid of activex over night?

One thing you guys are overlooking is that activex isn't alone in its security issues. Java is just as bad as ActiveX. So if activex is killed of then Java needs to be killed off also.
 
I get the choice whether I want to run Java or not in Firefox with a plugin.
I can enable a single item on a webpage if I want to.

IE does not allow ActiveX to be run in such a fashion so therefore is permanently turned off on my PC as that is the only way to prevent the exploits from running.
 
Exavior said:
One thing you guys are overlooking is that activex isn't alone in its security issues. Java is just as bad as ActiveX. So if activex is killed of then Java needs to be killed off also.
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Java is run in a virtual machine, so it is a bit harder to break out of it and mess with the OS. ActiveX, on the other hand, pretty much lets people do whatever the hell they want with your system, which is never a good thing.

ActiveX should have died years ago.
 
LANm0nk3y said:
I blame the loan officers for conning some of these people into ARM loans.
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If you were conned, then you were dumb. Like I said...half a brain. Anybody who goes in for a home loan not knowing what they can afford even before they talk to a loan officer has no business buying a house.

ActiveX is the same thing.
 
kill it.. seriously. you should be able to go to any site on the net without a single worry that your going to get infected with something.
 
Trepidati0n said:
If you were conned, then you were dumb. Like I said...half a brain. Anybody who goes in for a home loan not knowing what they can afford even before they talk to a loan officer has no business buying a house.

ActiveX is the same thing.
Click to expand...

And a lot of those banks are now hurting themselves, as it should be, they were just as responsible and the folks that took out the loans. they thought that the gravy train would never run out and it did.


let ActiveX die with MS screaming in pain.:D
 
kllrnohj said:
Java is run in a virtual machine, so it is a bit harder to break out of it and mess with the OS. ActiveX, on the other hand, pretty much lets people do whatever the hell they want with your system, which is never a good thing.

ActiveX should have died years ago.
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Problem is though that it can happen and does happen. It isnt' like the virual machine is locked so that it can't talk to other parts of the machine. It just provides a layer between the code and the OS so that they OS can be swapped out with another one with no change in code. There have been a number of java issues that allow attackers to run remote code on the client machine or access stuff they should be able to. Java and java apps can do a lot to your sytem too, it isn't any better than activex.
 
4saken said:
killling ActiveX would wreak havoc on tons of large company intranets. So many intranet apps use activex along with AD.
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Unfortunately very good point.

I however agree with the sentiment of the thread and think it needs to be killed off or at the very least sandboxed, at the very least resource wise.

And to the proponents of the technology... Tell me one function that could not be done in java. (and yes windows updates COULD be done in java if MS would struggle their hunt for proprietary 'standards')
 
The company I work for has this kinda ActiveX Intranet application we use all the time and it absolutely blows chunks! When the tool your supposed to work with crashes 6-8 times a day and is slow as turtle I try to stay calm but its hard.

Kill it.
 
...and I thought it already had been cut. Haven't used Active X (FF, Opera) and have never missed it.

Die!
 
Too many things use ActiveX. I simply don't see it going anywhere for a long time. It's going to have to be gradual with applications being backwards compatible for a couple versions before you can phase something this big out.

Forget about WindowsUpdate and Validation checker. That's minor and easily be replaced by thousands of other types of updaters and ways to validate your software.

I'm talking about heavy duty ActiveX uses like Sharepoint and Office and Active Directory and Citrix and TSWeb (Terminal Server Web) and IIS Administration, and LogMeIn, and many many thousands other industry uses.

ActiveX is here to stay for a good long time.
 
Title says it all. But for specifics:

1)No other web browser uses it, and they have less 0-day admin privileged vulnerabilities.
2)No other operating system uses it, and they have less 0-day admin privileged vulnerabilities.
3)Few would miss it after a few days.
4)No one uses it for secure transactions, except Korea.
5)It would decrease the number of popups for users to automatically click yes, if just for a short time.
6)It never had a chance after Flash came out.
7-infinity)***Reserved for Future ActiveX Insults***
 
Just wondering how many people who are for it being killed actually make web based applications?
 
Snowdog said:
Never had it, never will.

Seriously I have never used IE. I used Netscape, then Opera, now Firefox and I never used an activeX plugin. If a page used ActiveX, I just didn't go there.

I also don't use MS Office, MS media player, or Outlook...

So I won't miss it when it is gone, since I never used it in the first place.
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Why wouldn't you use MS office? The new implementation is amazing! I guess it is expensive..
 
Furystrike said:
Why wouldn't you use MS office? The new implementation is amazing! I guess it is expensive..
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what does it have over open office?
i type things and it spell checks
calc is just as good as excel
and open office.org is free sure its java

and activeX needs to die if only for the sites that think IE is the only browser around
 
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