Cookies taste good, and I enjoy eating them. But some websites use cookies to spy on you!!!Oh NO. Well obviously its not a real cookie, its a web cookie. Basicly a web cookie is a small software some website automatically install on your computer when you visit their website, once its installed the software will record all things you do on the internet, and finally send the information back to the corporation, all without you knowing anything. A large corporation such as google uses them to "help you get better search results" - or at least this is what they claim. Sure cookies might help you get better search results but it also ruins all online privacy, and who likes to be monitored all the time... not me. Well there is an solution. There is an option in your browser to ask if you want to accept cookies, say no and your computer will reject all cookies, but now every time you encounter a cookie there will be a pop-up where you have to say okay, which in the long run will ruin your browsing. But there is a better solutions. I use the software CCleaner to clean my computer from the cookies. When I'm done browsing turn on CCleaner and all the cookies will be destroyed.
-Oliver Grau
3 comments:
Cookies are actually quite harmless. A cookies is rather a text representation of a key to value data mechanism that stores information on your hard disk.
Cookies are not executable and cannot be used as a virus. However, you are correct in that they can be a privacy issue. Cookies can be tracked, but only when they are able to be read by the site.
However, most browsers only allow the reading of cookies by the site that set them. Most modern browsers also put mechanisms in place to prevent cookie theft. Protection such as "HTTP Only" only restrict your cookies to being able to be sent to the HTTP Protocol.
To the average user, the only worry about cookies should be XSS attacks. XSS attacks occur when a "hacker" or anybody with the knowledge, sends you a link to a site that is vulnerable. If you've visited that site before, and their XSS attack is successful, they will have your cookies, which often contain your username and securely-hashed password. They will be able to set your cookies in their browser and be logged in as you. Disabling cookies will prevent you from visiting almost any site.
If you're entirely fearful of a site setting cookies on your computer, you should probably use Google Chrome's Incognito Mode, which will delete all the data that is stored after that session.
To reiterate the important: cookies are just text files that have a key (name) and a value. It's not a virus or software.
Sorry to hijack your post. Cookies are an important subject, in regards to privacy.
- Cole Turner.
hmm its not a software? strange, because I looked it up just to make sure. I got the same results all over the internet, but you sound like an expert so your most likely right. Would it be possible to create a cookie that say could monitor everything you do on your computer, not just the internet? If its possible i would bet my left arm that someone ... cough.cough.. google are using them, since it could be great information to exploit by either selling it or storing it for analysis. what do you think?
-Oliver Grau
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