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It's basically required in South Korea for online shopping. The link to the IE 0 day is written in Korean. More on IE in South Korea: https://www.nationthailan

It's basically required in South Korea for online shopping. The link to the IE 0 day is written in Korean. More on IE in South Korea: https://www.nationthailand.com/Startup_and_IT/30321025 https://www.nationthailand.com/Startup_and_IT/30321025

meibo 6y ago
This is probably it, thank you for clarifying - I've got a few friends in SK and they always complain about this, should have thought of that!
- tape_measure 6y ago
  Do you know the latest on IE use? The article I posted is from 2017 and promises modernization. I submitted the article here, hopefully we get an on-the-ground update. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26656052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26656052
  - easton 6y ago
    Looks like it was abolished last year: https://10mag.com/the-end-is-finally-near-for-koreas-infamous-digital-id-certificate/ https://10mag.com/the-end-is-finally-near-for-koreas-infamou...
thephyber 6y ago
I remember IE was required for the South Korean government issued digital certificate (required for all internet-based retail transactions and likely others). I guess I had assumed that the standard was compatible with newer versions of Windows or MS browsers. Really sad if it isn’t.
- freeone3000 6y ago
  It's ActiveX-based, which essentially runs nowhere but IE. Edge's support for ActiveX is running it in an IE tab.
  - thephyber 6y ago
    Yes, I roughly understand the limitations of the existing implementation. but it is not the only browser or platform and it’s not like the S Korean government is not capable of noticing the market share / cybersecurity trends of the past decade+.
    - coldcode 6y ago
      I was under the impression that SK was a technologically advanced country. I guess not the government then.
- bawolff 6y ago
  I wonder why they needed an active x control for that. TLS/SSL client certificates have been supported by all browsers since basically forever, going back even further than active x.
  - thephyber 6y ago
    If I had to guess, HTTPS / SSL was governed by US export restrictions above a certain strength so S Korea managed to use the existing extensibility built into the browser the government wanted to support.
- neom 6y ago
  For some things in SK you have to download a bunch of weird proprietary government .exe's that seem to only run in conjunction with specific combinations of windows and IE. I was pretty shocked when my wife and I went to get our marriage certificate from the government, and going to get our marriage certificate was finding an old windows NT system at her college library that everyone used to do their government related .exe stuff. We had to download 2 or 3 apps to do it, I'm not even sure what they all did, just a bunch of programs you had to run in a specific order, some of them provided iFrame type windows to logins, it was really strange.
ronsor 6y ago
If Microsoft suddenly disabled all IE installations in South Korea, they'd have no choice but to change. Sometimes I wonder if the Apple-style "this just won't work at all anymore" attitude isn't that bad.
- eptcyka 6y ago
  It has its places, given the correct trade-off, it works well. Not allowing flash was good because iOS was a growing market with no preexisting businesses relying on flash on iOS to work.
- fshbbdssbbgdd 6y ago
  Sounds like a great way for Microsoft to lose a lot of market share fast.
  - mimsee 6y ago
    There's no ActiveX on macOS or Linux either.
cmeacham98 6y ago
No longer required by the government as of recently: https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/south_korea_activex_certs_dead/ https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/south_korea_activex_c... Unsure on whether major sites have gotten around to removing it though, perhaps a Korean HN reader could comment.
williamchangnpu 6y ago
Not in SK, but in China Here basically all banks require ActiveX, and if you don't have an Windows computer(Mac), what you can do is to use their app, which of course is super sluggish.

meibo 6y ago

This is probably it, thank you for clarifying - I've got a few friends in SK and they always complain about this, should have thought of that!

tape_measure 6y ago
Do you know the latest on IE use? The article I posted is from 2017 and promises modernization. I submitted the article here, hopefully we get an on-the-ground update. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26656052 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26656052
- easton 6y ago
  Looks like it was abolished last year: https://10mag.com/the-end-is-finally-near-for-koreas-infamous-digital-id-certificate/ https://10mag.com/the-end-is-finally-near-for-koreas-infamou...

thephyber 6y ago

I remember IE was required for the South Korean government issued digital certificate (required for all internet-based retail transactions and likely others). I guess I had assumed that the standard was compatible with newer versions of Windows or MS browsers. Really sad if it isn’t.

freeone3000 6y ago
It's ActiveX-based, which essentially runs nowhere but IE. Edge's support for ActiveX is running it in an IE tab.
- thephyber 6y ago
  Yes, I roughly understand the limitations of the existing implementation. but it is not the only browser or platform and it’s not like the S Korean government is not capable of noticing the market share / cybersecurity trends of the past decade+.
  - coldcode 6y ago
    I was under the impression that SK was a technologically advanced country. I guess not the government then.
bawolff 6y ago
I wonder why they needed an active x control for that. TLS/SSL client certificates have been supported by all browsers since basically forever, going back even further than active x.
- thephyber 6y ago
  If I had to guess, HTTPS / SSL was governed by US export restrictions above a certain strength so S Korea managed to use the existing extensibility built into the browser the government wanted to support.
neom 6y ago
For some things in SK you have to download a bunch of weird proprietary government .exe's that seem to only run in conjunction with specific combinations of windows and IE. I was pretty shocked when my wife and I went to get our marriage certificate from the government, and going to get our marriage certificate was finding an old windows NT system at her college library that everyone used to do their government related .exe stuff. We had to download 2 or 3 apps to do it, I'm not even sure what they all did, just a bunch of programs you had to run in a specific order, some of them provided iFrame type windows to logins, it was really strange.

ronsor 6y ago

If Microsoft suddenly disabled all IE installations in South Korea, they'd have no choice but to change. Sometimes I wonder if the Apple-style "this just won't work at all anymore" attitude isn't that bad.

eptcyka 6y ago
It has its places, given the correct trade-off, it works well. Not allowing flash was good because iOS was a growing market with no preexisting businesses relying on flash on iOS to work.
fshbbdssbbgdd 6y ago
Sounds like a great way for Microsoft to lose a lot of market share fast.
- mimsee 6y ago
  There's no ActiveX on macOS or Linux either.

cmeacham98 6y ago

No longer required by the government as of recently: https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/south_korea_activex_certs_dead/ https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/10/south_korea_activex_c... Unsure on whether major sites have gotten around to removing it though, perhaps a Korean HN reader could comment.

williamchangnpu 6y ago

Not in SK, but in China Here basically all banks require ActiveX, and if you don't have an Windows computer(Mac), what you can do is to use their app, which of course is super sluggish.