Amid a stack of security updates for Internet Explorer on Tuesday, Microsoft also made a couple announcements that should get your notice.
In August, Microsoft announced a new security measure for Internet Explorer versions called "out-of-date ActiveX control blocking." After a bit of customer complaint, Microsoft gave customers a 30-day reprieve before the company initiated the new features, giving organizations more time to prepare for certain versions of Java components to be tested. When the feature was finally revved up in September, all supported operating systems and Internet Explorer versions were included in the coverage, except for Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2. Starting on November 11, 2014 (November's Patch Tuesday) Windows Vista SP2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 with Internet Explorer 9 will also be included in the out-of-date ActiveX control blocking mechanism.
Also on November 11, 2014, Microsoft will start including outdated Silverlight versions as part of its centrally managed blocking mechanism. After the update, any version of Silverlight prior to (but not including) 5.1.30514.0 will be blocked from running by Internet Explorer.
To read more about the Out-of-date ActiveX Control Blocking feature go here: Out-of-date ActiveX control blocking
Microsoft is maintaining a page that shows the specific ActiveX controls that it intends to block. You can find that here: Blocked out-of-date ActiveX controls
