The Cookie Monster – How Do Cookies Influence Internet Security?

A cookie is a small file that contains only text. It attaches itself to your hard drive for each website you visit during any given browser session. They are essentially messages for web sites that stay on your hard drive until you manually delete them, by yourself or with the help of software cleaning program. These cookies keep track of your activities on the web site itself. The message stored in the cookie file is an HTTP header that can be opened by the host web server at any point in time. The term “cookie,” is one well known within computer science lingo. It describes a clear piece of information held by an intermediary.

There are a number of different reasons a website might use cookies. Most sites use them to collect demographic data about the viewers. They look at how long you stay on their website, how often you come, and which pages you look at while you do. This can help companies refine their marketing strategies to meet consumer needs. For example, if you always visit the website after one a.m., and lots of other customers do too, they might launch a new ad campaign based on that information.

Another reason a website might use cookies is to offer you a personalized experience at the web site. The host server automatically assumes this is the first time you’ve visited the site if no cookies are present in your system. However, if the site deposits cookies on your hard drive, the host server knows you are a returning customer. You might have seen this before when you return to a website where you’ve made purchases in the past, and the header at the top says “Hello, Mr. Jones!” You may have wondered how they knew your name. It was the cookies they deposited on your system. Shopping websites may also make recommendations based on other purchases you’ve made from them in the past as the host server stores which pages you looked at and which pages you purchased from.

One final reason a website may use cookies is to monitor your advertising messages. Most sites run several banner ads at once. The cookies can help tell the host server which banner ads you’ve seen and which you have not. This can help the company from a business standpoint because they can tell advertisers that site viewers will see each of their ads an approximate number of times each time they visit the site.

Cookies do not compromise your internet security. In some fashion, they do compromise your privacy, but because cookies are simple text files, they cannot hurt your computer in any fashion. It is not a program. It is not a plug-in. It is not malware. It is not spyware. It cannot spread a virus. It cannot even access your hard drive information. Cookies only have six parameters that can be stored within them. Cookies can contain the name of the cookie. They can also contain the value of the cookie and the expiration date of the cookie. This is how long the cookie will stay active on your system. For example, if you visit a shopping website, they may deposit a cookie on your system that will stay active for seven days. After that, the cookie remains on your system, but the host server will no longer recognize it after that point. Cookies can also contain a path or URL. This means that any websites outside of this path are recognized as invalid, and other host servers cannot recognize a cookie from a different website. Cookies can also contain a domain. If one host server works for multiple sites, the cookie’s domain can tell it which of the sites to access. For example, if one company runs a banking website, a shopping website, and a charity website, the cookie will only be valid for one of the websites. If you use the shopping website, the cookie deposited to your system will not be good for the banking website. The final information a cookie can store is the need for a secure connection. Secure connections are used on websites where sensitive personal information is transmitted. A cookie with this information would prompt the host server to allow you to log in to their secure connection.

If you do not want your system to accept cookies, most browsers have a setting in their options menu that can help you reject cookies from websites to ensure your privacy from companies who deposit cookies on your system. It is a good idea to clean your cookies file on a regular basis.

Maintaining Your Privacy on the Internet – Five Things you can do

To Protect Yourself

Protecting yourself from predators on the Internet is very important for your teenager or child as well as yourself. Many people will try to get your personal information so they can have access to everything about you. If they can get your personal information, they can access your financial accounts, your credit records, and other valuable assets. You can be on guard and protect yourself from these thieves. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are almost 10 million identity theft victims a year.

Five things you can do to protect your valuable personal information are:

Find out why you’re being asked for your personal information: your name, email or home address, phone number or Social Security number. If you share these items, find out how they will be protected. Be sure to tell your children to never give out a last name, phone number, or home address on the Internet. Never send personal information through email messages. Email is not a secure form of communication.

If you get a pop-up or email message asking you for your personal information, contact that company by clicking into their website and not following a link in an email or pop-up ad. If you are shopping on-line, don’t provide financial information such as a credit card number or bank account number unless you’re sure the site is privacy protected. Look for the lock on the browser status bar or by checking the website URL. If the website URL is https, the “s” on the end indicates it is a secure site. Read the privacy policies. The policy should always tell you if you have the right to see what information, the site has about you. It should also tell you what they do to protect your private information.

Know whom you are dealing with on the Internet. There are dishonest people everywhere but online you can’t judge someone’s character by looking him or her in the eye. It’s easy to pretend to be legitimate businesses so check out the seller before you buy. A legitimate business should have a working phone number and a physical address where you can contact someone in person if you have a problem. Another new way of getting a person’s personal information is by Phishing. For example, I deal with Paypal, an online pay system that is connected to my checking account. I am paid through Paypal for several of my jobs and I purchase through Paypal as well. There isn’t one week that goes by that I don’t get an e-mail asking that I update my information on my Paypal account or that someone has been trying to use it. They then request that you click on their link to go to the site to update information. Legitimate businesses don’t ask for personal information by e-mail. Always open a new browser window from somewhere other than the e-mail. Paypal has an e-mail you can forward a suspicious e-mail to and they will tell you if it is legitimate or not. That address is: spoof@paypal.com. I don’t even look at them anymore; I immediately forward them to Paypal. I also keep a very small amount of money in my Paypal account.

Free software and file sharing can introduce your computer system to Spyware that recognizes where you go and often connects you to other users who are running the same software. File sharing can allow someone to view other important information on your computer such as records and documents, tax returns, email messages, medical records, and other personal documents. Be careful of opening links in email messages. They could be loaded with viruses or can give a hacker an open line directly to your computer and all of your personal files. Some messages seem to come from names that you recognize but they may just be spelled a little different or have a slightly different last name.

Use and update anti-virus software and firewalls. This is a preventive measure and is important because it could keep you from getting a nasty computer virus or a worm that corrupts your computer beyond compare. Use anti-virus software that is routinely updated for the latest worms or viruses that might be circulating the Internet at that time.

Finally, yet importantly, if you’re not using your computer for an extended period, turn it off or unplug it from your phone line or cable modem. If it isn’t connected to the Internet, no one can get in.

Spies Everywhere - What is Spyware and Why is it so Bad?

What is Spyware? Why is it so bad? The definition of Spyware is: a category of programs that attach themselves to your individual operating system by opening or clicking on certain offers or pop up ads. They track your computing habits, where you go on the Internet and will trouble you with unwanted ads to generate visits to their Web site. Spyware is not a computer virus. A virus is a code designed to multiply itself as many times as possible and spread to computers that are connected to it. Viruses can be passed on through e-mail and attachments that are sent with e-mail.

Spyware does not usually damage your computer. It does get into your computer without your consent and hides in the background. It often makes unwanted changes and gives you targeted advertisements or leads your browser to special sites or search results. Some of the worst Spyware companies are Gator, Bonzi Buddy, and CoolWebSearch. Most Spyware only targets Windows operating systems. It can hog RAM and processor power causing your computer to run slow.

Spyware gets onto your computer by something you have done. You may have clicked on a pop-up window, adding a software package often called freeware or shareware, and agreeing to add a software package that is supposed to add new functions to your Web browser.

Piggybacked software installation, especially shareware or freeware often have Spyware included in their standard install. If you’re in the habit of downloading free software or shareware, you may download Spyware to your computer.

Another way of getting Spyware is a pop-up window, which automatically tries to download and install a program on your computer. You may only get a warning from your browser letting you know the name of the software and asking you if it’s ok to install it. Be careful what buttons you are pushing when items pop up on your screen.

Another method of picking up Spyware is through Browser add-ons. These are cute little animated pals or additional search boxes that may include elements of Spyware as part of the deal. Some add-ons are browser hijackers. These are hard to get rid of as they embed themselves deep in your computer.

One of the worst Spyware tricks is to masquerade as an anti-Spyware. It will try to convince you it is a tool to detect and remove Spyware from your system. We have all seen the little pop up box that looks like it comes from Microsoft Internet Explorer. It invites you to scan your computer free and get a free spam blocker. When you run the file, it will tell you that your computer is clean, but it installs additional Spyware of its own.

When Spyware runs an application in the background, it can generate many pop-up ads, which in turn will slow down your program. It can reset your home page every time you open your computer, or redirect your Web searches. It can control the results that you see and make your search engine almost useless.

Some types of Spyware can change Internet settings so when you connect through your dial-up service, it will default to pay telephone numbers. These can be expensive and you might not know it is happening until you are hit with a high phone bill. It can also change your fire wall settings to allow more unwanted software to be attached to your computer.

Some Spyware programs are used to make web traffic statistics look better then they are. They can force tons of pop-up ads and create fake search results. In this way, they can claim credit for displaying the ad to you repeatedly, and if you click the ad by accident, it counts as someone expressing interest in the advertised product.

Stealing affiliate credits is another use of Spyware. Shopping sites like Amazon.com and Ebay offer credits to a Web site that successfully directs traffic to their item pages. All affiliates want the credit for sending someone to their websites.

You can protect yourself from Spyware, by running a trusted Spyware detector and removal program. Three programs that are free and trustworthy are, Adaware, Spybot, and Microsoft AntiSpyware.

The Basics of Internet Website Encryption

Encryption is the process of hiding data or the contents of a message in a way that can only be recovered by using a corresponding decryption procedure. In cryptography, both encryption and decryption are very common techniques used to secure communications over the internet. There are a variety of encryption and decryption processes often called algorithms that are used. In cryptography, it’s become very hard to keep the logic of algorithms confidential. Particularly, when online, it’s usually easier to use a more popular public algorithm and to rely on an alternative form of security.

Cryptography uses a “key” which is a form of numbers in a long sequence of bits. The sequence of numbers is used by the encryption and decryption algorithms. As an example, the following sequence of numbers will act as a hypothetical 40 bit key: 000101 1101000001010 111001010 000001010101

An encrypted algorithm will take the original message with a key and alter the message numerically based on the bits in the key to create an entirely new encrypted message. Similarly, the decryption algorithm will take the encrypted message and reinstate it to the original form by using one or more keys. Sometimes there is one single private key that is used for both encryption and decryption. More often other algorithms use two keys, one for encryption and the other for decryption. In a case where there are two keys being used, one will be allowed to remain public, such as the encryption key, whereas the other remains private. Messages can not be read if the decryption key is not known. Basically, these keys provide the protection necessary when encrypting and decrypting communications online.

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is used with current web browsers to secure online transactions, such as online banking, investing and e-commerce. The SSL encryption depends greatly on the keys by using a public key for the encryption process and a private key for the decryption process. Normally the strength or effectiveness of SSL encryption is measured by the key length and how many numbers of bits are in the key.

The 40 bit encryption became too easy to decode, by the use of brute force, which is basically calculating every possible key one by one. In order to increase the strength and effectiveness of SSL encryption, the creators of web browsers increased the strength of encryption to 128 bit. This increase is for your added protection because the 128 bit is much harder and almost impossible to decode. Internet security professionals expect the 128 bit encryption to work effectively for at least another ten years.

Internet security is not all hype, it’s very important to the online communities who use their computers for more than just playing games. Even if you only use your computer to send and receive email, it would be a good security measure to encrypt your email. If you encrypt your email so that only the intended recipients can read it, then that would prevent even the most dedicated hackers from intercepting your email and violating your privacy. There is also software available to enable you to digitally sign the email you send so that the recipients can verify who it’s actually coming from.

When you encrypt your email, you will have two keys, a public key and a private key. This kind of encryption is called Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). With PKI, you are the only one who has use of your private key, while your public key is given to anyone of your choosing or you can also make it available to the public. If your friend wants to send you an email that is only meant for your eyes to see, your friend would encrypt it by using your public key. When you receive the message, you will have to use your private key to decrypt the message in order to read it. Without decrypting the message, it would only appear to be a series of numbers.

It’s an important security measure to encrypt all of your email messages, not just the confidential ones or the one’s containing your credit card information. Although encrypting every single email message that is sent through internet space may seem like a hassle, it really is the best thing to do for your own security.

Key Logging Capers – Three Reasons Why You Need It

Spyware is a malicious problem on the internet. No matter the type of spyware, in order for it to work correctly, it must be able to run without the user shutting the computer down. Being hidden also helps the program to get installed in the first place. Because of this, spyware is usually disguised as a Trojan horse. This is a program that quietly runs in the background, inviting the user to run it, while spreading its malicious code. This code can do any number of things. There are a number of ways spyware is delivered, and as a Trojan horse is the most common. It usually comes with other pieces of software that a user might find interesting. This software is usually shared through a file-sharing network or downloadable off of the internet. Once the user installs the software, the spyware also gets installed. The most common reason spyware is infecting computers is for the profit of the malware creator. One type of spyware is a key logger. This allows the creator to sort of eavesdrop on your computer activities. Once infected with a key logger, the creator can profit from it by stealing important information like bank account information, credit card numbers, or contact information. It can steal the password information for your software licensing. This can mean some serious problems for you.

There are three good reasons to protect your self from key logging software. First, it can lead to identity theft. Identity theft accounts for twenty-five percent of all credit card losses in the United States. All a thief needs is your social security number; you birth date, and your contact information. Once he or she has any of this, they can get a fake ID, which will help them apply for credit posing as you. Because so many lending institutions are eager to issue credit these days, information is not properly verified, and the first account leads to more accounts. This ruins your credit. Even if they do not apply for new credit in your name, they can make full use of your current lines of credit just through the information they have captured with their key logging software.

The second good reason to protect your self is to keep from serving as the host machine for a computer virus. Key loggers have complete access to your system, and without your knowledge, you could be serving as a virus host in no time. You could be infecting other computers at random, destroying companies without a second thought. Protection is the key to avoiding this hassle.

The final good reason to protect yourself is to protect your privacy. You don’t want people spying on you in your own home, and that is exactly what key logging software is capable of. Shielding yourself, your kids, and your privacy is why protecting yourself is important.

You can start self protection by following the same kinds of rules you follow for protecting yourself from viruses. Do not download anything that you are not familiar with. Do not download programs from a website without a good reputation. Do not open e-mail attachments unless you are familiar with the sender. Keep your anti-virus program up to date. Keep your system up to date through Windows updates. You might also consider completely reloading your Windows operating system on a regular basis to completely protect your computer from any serious problems.

You can also protect yourself through a software program. There are a number of programs designed specifically to prevent key loggers from gaining access to your system. Anti-Keylogger can provide both your home computer and every computer on your business network with the protection you need from key logging software. It can even adapt itself to protect against unknown key logging software programs. It works silently in the background, meaning you will not have to activate anything for it to do its job. Moreover, it will not disrupt your system processes, so you will not experience any system slow downs with this software. There are a number of other good software programs available over the internet both at user cost and as freeware. Whatever you download, though, be sure to be careful or you might infect your computer with the very thing you were attempting to prevent. Protecting yourself from key loggers is essential for the privacy of you and your family.