[Web4lib] Active X controls

[Bob Rasmussen]

On Mon, 19 Jun 2006, Gair Helfrich wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> Delurking for a question about Active X. Currently our public PCs have a
> "library" user and an "administrator" user. These machines are also
> protected by Centurion Guard or Deep Freeze as well as by Fortres.  The
> public PCs use the library user-a standard user with no administrative
> privileges. We're running into problems with sites that use Active X
> since it can't be installed by a standard user and the patrons are
> unhappy that they can't use the site they want.

Installing an ActiveX object on a PC is, in fact, installing a foreign
program. It is just as dangerous as installing any other program. You
certainly don't want to allow any user to install any ActiveX object!

You MAY want to have a process whereby a user could apply to have a
certain ActiveX object added to your list of approved installs, which
probably includes Flash Player, for instance. You would then want to
evaluate its reliability, security, provenance, etc.

Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.

personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
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