Internet users tangled up in the ActiveX web

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Internet users tangled up in the ActiveX web

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Most people who have attempted to pay a bill, transfer money between accounts or purchase concert tickets online in Korea have likely had to download a number of security programs before completing their transactions.

These programs are often grouped together in something called ActiveX, which is a framework for defining reusable software components that perform a variety of functions in Web browsers and helps ensure that hackers can’t access private information. Users often are greeted with a pop-up panel that asks them to “install ActiveX controls” by clicking a link before continuing.

ActiveX is primarily used as a security precaution, and aside from the online banking world is commonly used for various Internet transactions and to access everything from games to music clips. ActiveX works specifically with Internet Explorer, which the lion’s share of Koreans use to surf the Web.

But some observers consider it quite costly, saying that Internet users waste an untold amount of time downloading these programs, which in turn saps productivity.

It can take around five to 10 minutes to install all the programs that are needed for a user to access a certain Web page or complete an online transaction at a banking or shopping site for the first time. At the same time, banks and card companies often require users to download different versions of security programs when accessing their Web pages.

If a program is installed once a year on 10 million PCs in Korea, for instance, that can amount to 1 million hours of lost time, assuming an average installation time of 10 minutes. Since Korea’s minimum wage is 4,000 won ($3.52), annual losses would total around 4 billion won in that scenario.

Another problem is cropping up with smartphones, high-tech devices that offer portable Internet, mobile phone services and other features.

The number of smartphone users in Korea neared 1 million at the end of last year, with Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Omnia 2 gaining popularity. However, smartphone users are having trouble whenever they try to use mobile banking services or shopping sites, since the browsers designed for smartphones are not equipped to handle ActiveX.

With the installment of ActiveX emerging as a problem domestically, experts are proposing alternatives. A team headed by researcher Kim Hyung-sik at Cambridge University recently released a study saying Korea’s Internet banking industry should allow users to choose whether to install the programs.

Local officials are looking into the issue as well.

“The discussion over whether using ActiveX is proper is underway at the Financial Supervisory Service as we look to resolve the problem of restricting electronic transactions on smartphones,” Choi Si-joong, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, said on Feb. 22 in the National Assembly.

In some foreign countries it’s much easier to perform electronic transactions. The Web site of HSBC bank in Britain, for instance, doesn’t require users to install security programs or store digital certificates in their PCs. Users can simply punch in their 12-digit ID codes. 

But the trade-offs could be worse if security is breached, some say. “Would hackers just sit there and watch local Internet banking transactions if it were easy to decode passwords or hack into servers?” said a former hacker who asked to remain anonymous.


By Kim Chang-woo [jyj222@joongang.co.kr]
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