New "patch Tuesday" Active-X killbits

I see that MS has finally followed your lead and added a new killbit utility (in XP, at least) as of yesterday or this morning.

Do you see any significant conflict with Spyware Blaster? Opening SB is still showing all protection enabled.

Conversely, any idea of how much protection is now duplicated? I don't know whether either or both apps would add a new restricted-site registry entry even if one's already there, which could make the registry a little unwieldy. Or does either one (better yet, both) respect and ignore such an entry which is already there?

 

In Vista too, I was quite amazed

 

Hi,

Microsoft has utilized kill bits to block ActiveX controls in some older versions of their own software from running in Internet Explorer (in many cases because the older ActiveX controls contained various security issues).

They've also distributed a small number of kill bits in the past at the request of third-party developers, to block some older (again, often vulnerable to exploit) third-party ActiveX controls.

They recently started packaging these separately as "Cumulative Security Update of ActiveX Kill Bits". Previously, they were contained as part of other security updates (such as Cumulative Internet Explorer updates).


There should be absolutely no conflict with SpywareBlaster, and no duplication of protection or overlap. The goal is simply different: Microsoft occasionally distributes kill bits to block execution of old Microsoft or third-party controls (at the request of the third-party developer), and SpywareBlaster utilizes kill bits to block ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, and other potentially unwanted software.

Best regards,

-Javacool