MalwareTeks Blog

Once again found on Digg Are you Spyware Savy. OK you got me curious. So, I check out the blog post at Bauer-Power: Information is Power!

So, quickly scanning the page this passage just jumps right out at me:

2. What are browser cookies?

Ans: These are created by unethical persons to track your browsing preferences for their own use, to spam your pc with advertisements and marketing ploys, to steal personal information like bank account details, credit card numbers and so on, and to cause harm to your computer and business by stealing data/files.

Now, this guy clearly didn’t write this article himself, since Windows Defender Beta 2 is referenced later in the article.

Back to the subject of this article the HTTP Cookie, or Browser Cookie, or just simply Cookie That is one piece of Super Spyware to do all that. As, I stated in an earlier article, It’s a Cookie, Just Delete It!

Cookies are simple pieces of data unable to perform any operation by themselves. They are neither spyware nor viruses. Cookies are not program code. They cannot erase or read information from the user’s computer. However, cookies allow for detecting the Web pages viewed by a user on a given site or set of sites. This information can be collected in a profile of the user. Such profiles are often anonymous, they do not contain personal information.

Here are a few Myths about Cookies:

• Myth: Cookies are like worms and viruses in that they can erase data from the user’s hard disks;
• Myth: Cookies are a form of spyware in that they can read personal information stored on the user’s computer;
• Myth: Cookies generate popups;
• Myth: Cookies are used for spamming;
• Myth: Cookies are only used for advertising.

What exactly is a cookie? HTTP cookies, sometimes known as web cookies, tracking cookies, or just cookies, are small text files sent by a server to a web browser and back unchanged. Cookies are used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences and shopping cart contents.

There are some privacy concerns around the use of cookies. They can be used for tracking browsing behavior. As a result, they have been subject to legislation in various countries such as the United States and in the European Union. Cookies have also been criticised because the identification of users they provide is not always accurate and they could potentially be used for network attacks.

Cookies are also subject to a number of misconceptions, mostly based on the erroneous notion that they are computer programs. In fact, cookies are simple pieces of data unable to perform any operation by themselves. They are neither spyware nor viruses, despite the detection of certain cookies by many anti-spyware products.

To delete cookies:

Internet Explorer Users
1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. On the General tab, click Settings, and then click View files.
3. Select the cookie you want to delete, and then, on the File menu, click Delete.

To delete all of the cookies on your computer, click Delete Cookies on the General tab.

Firefox Users
On the Tools menu, Options, clicking the Privacy button, and under Cookies click the Clear button.

Opera Users
Can manage, disable, and enable cookies by clicking the File menu, Preferences, and selecting Privacy.

Note
Some Web sites store your member name and password or other personally identifiable information about you in a cookie; therefore, if you delete a cookie, you may need to re-enter this information the next time you visit the site.