Microsoft says that it won’t include WebGL support in version 10 of Internet Explorer because the 3-D graphics API renders video hardware drivers vulnerable to potential attacks. Without a viable way to secure the drivers, Microsoft is not working on a way to support the protocols.

Driver Vulnerability Risks Too Great

At the heart of the company’s concern is the fact that the WebGL approach could allow a malicious Web site to exploit a computer’s video and graphics hardware to get to system-level functions that are usually insulated from such attacks. Because of the way WebGL (and OpenGL) are designed, there is no good way to resolve the concerns. In addition, the open source nature of the WebGL development gives Microsoft additional pause.

Video and graphics drivers have never been considered a possible attack vector, and aren’t hardened the way other potentially vulnerable parts of the operating system are. Changing the way WebGL works won’t necessarily resolve the list of open issues. The problem is more related to potential vulnerabilities in the most common video and graphics drivers, which are written by third party manufacturers. Microsoft (and other browser authors that have already implemented WebGL support) don’t have enough control over driver construction to ensure that users will have a safe experience while using WebGL services. Microsoft has publicly complained that these hardware driver authors have never before been concerned about device security, so it’s unlikely that they will begin writing more secure hardware driver code as part of their WebGL support.

Microsoft has long history of dealing with security flaws and the resulting exploits. In recent versions of the operating system, the company has gone to great lengths to ensure that its operating system and component parts are safe and secure. Having made user security a significant element of its product development cycle, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the company would reject WebGL on the basis of security.

WebGL support has been built into the latest version of Firefox, Chrome and Safari, although it is not enabled by default in Safari, as it is in Firefox and Chrome. For its part, Microsoft states that it believes that WebGL will become a source of “hard-to-fix vulnerabilities.” The widespread adoption of WebGL remains to be seen. While the service is attractive to the gaming community because it provides hardware accelerated graphics for Web-based games, nagging concerns about security may see the majority of users disabling WebGL support at the browser level.

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ATI has released new Catalyst 10.4 drivers designed to correct some issues including long load times and display issues that some users reported following the company’s last driver release. The new drivers are designed to work with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, though the company says that the latest hardware drivers will not work for netbooks manufactured by Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic.

Downloading Drivers Can Be A Hassle

Some users, notably gamers, reported problems with the company’s previous driver releases. Some issues included extended wait times and display glitches that caused the computer’s mouse to appear larger than normal on the screen. Users also reported problems with Adobe Flash Player and the driver’s support center. ATI made a portion of the new release available for download in April for users of the Radeon HD 5000 video card. The latest release covers the Radeon HD 2000, Radeon HD 3000 and Radeon HD 4000 series video cards. ATI had released the Catalyst 10.3 drivers in March.

Downloading the new drivers should improve performance on some specific games, most notably Bad Company 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky, Napoleon Total War and Shattered Horizon. Users can download the new drivers by visiting the ATI Web site.

Downloading and replacing drivers can be time consuming. For users who simply want to use their computers without spending a lot of time on maintenance, I recommend Driver Detective. Driver Detective is a driver management program that monitors the hardware drivers your computer has installed. On schedule, Driver Detective checks for new or updated drivers and if a new driver is located, Driver Detective downloads the new driver and installs it while maintaining a backup of the old driver.

Users never have to worry about their drivers being out of date. Driver Detective knows when new drivers are available and can also detect when an existing driver has gone bad or is missing. Driver Detective will download a fresh copy of the correct driver for your computer system and you’re good to go. It’s a great way to avoid problems that might otherwise be allowed to sneak up on your computer. Regular driver maintenance doesn’t get ignored and you avoid the hassles and headaches that old, bad, missing or incorrect drivers can cause.

Unlike Windows, Driver Detective doesn’t download the wrong driver and works hard to ensure that your computer always has fresh, functional copies of all of the hardware drivers you need to make your system run right.

Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall, via Flickr