What Is ActiveX DLL?

History
In March of 1996, Microsoft announced the release of ActiveX for its Windows platform, stating that the new framework would 'bring together the best of the Internet and the best of the PC.' Seven months later, Microsoft announced the availability of ActiveX in beta form for the Apple Macintosh platform. The ActiveX framework has been dogged since then by numerous security problems that have forced Microsoft to release security updates on a regular basis.
Impact
The introduction of ActiveX DLL's by Microsoft is seen as the first step in the development of the Internet that led to today's current high level of website interactivity. The framework significantly decreased the development time for programmers, while greatly enhancing the experience for the website viewer by introducing interactive features, such as music and video players, that had until then been technically impossible.
Features
Described by Microsoft as 'small, fast, full-featured components for the Internet,' ActiveX DLLs allow developers to create interactive websites using a 'building block' approach. When first released, the framework incorporated features that had never before been available to developers, such as progressive rendering, and compatibility with a wide variety of programming languages such as C++ and Microsoft's' Visual BASIC.
Benefits
Microsoft's implementation of ActiveX controls opened up a new level of interactivity between the website designers and the user. Prior to the widespread use of ActiveX, websites were static affairs, with low levels of interaction. ActiveX changed that by allowing the embedding of audio, video and other processes that users of modern websites now take for granted. One of the biggest benefits is the capability to integrate applications such as spreadsheets into web browsers and allow data managed by the application to be accessible via the Internet or a company's intranet.
Security
In February of 2007, a German hacker group 'Chaos Computer Club' demonstrated on German TV an ActiveX component, which was 'able to snatch money from one bank account and deposit it into another, all without the customary personal identification number,' according to an article by the website CNET. This initial incident was the first salvo in an ongoing battle between hackers and Microsoft's ActiveX component that has continued to the present day.