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Oracle Tips by Burleson |
Web Stalkers
Chapter 1 -
The Illusion of Anonymity
All about Cookies
Despite its name, in the computer world, a
cookie is not a snack. Cookie is the name given to files that a web
page leaves on the hard drive of personal computers. Cookies help
websites learn usage patterns, frequency of return visitors, and
other pertinent information. They can also store private
information. A cookie might be used when shopping online to keep
track of items placed in the consumer’s shopping cart. After
paying, the consumer’s credit card number is placed in a cookie on
the hard drive of their computer so that the next time they shop at
that site, the “Use the same credit card as last time” option
is available.
Clearly, this is a potential security risk. If
one website could read another website’s cookies, criminals could
gain access to any credit card a user has ever used online. This is
not normally possible, but there are security vulnerabilities that
could allow this to happen. Another problem with cookies is that
they identify, to anyone viewing them, which sites were visited. If
someone is looking into the job market and their manager views the
cookies, he could see the names of the popular job search sites.
Most web browsers give the user the ability to
either prevent all cookies or delete them upon request. Preventing
all cookies would significantly hinder many activities that people
undertake on the Internet. A better solution is to regularly delete
cookies manually. This means that any Internet-related password or
account information that has been stored on the user’s computer will
be erased. The next time a web-based e-mail or online shopping site
is visited, the user will need to type their user id and password
again. Figure 1.9 shows a typical screen that is used to delete
cookies.
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