[evilfantasy]

SUPERAntiSpyware.com - Frequently Asked Questions

Are cookies really spyware and are they dangerous?

This subject has been the debate of many newsgroups and online forums. Cookies are simply text files stored on your hard drive and cannot themselves harm your computer in any way. Typically cookies are used to remember logins and keep track of user settings on web-sites.

Cookies can be used to track your movement on the Internet ONLY if a site is aware of the cookies and is designed to use the specific cookies. Because of their use in tracking, many feel that this constitutes spyware.

We do not consider cookies to be threats of anywhere near the same level of severity as actual malware threats that can steal real personal information, serve ads, or render a computer unusable.

SUPERAntiSpyware will detect tracking cookies as "Adware.Tracking Cookies" and you can choose to remove them or leave them on your system. You may turn off this feature in the Preferences -> Scanning Control tab of SUPERAntiSpyware should you not wish cookies to be scanned, detected and removed.

The True Story About Cookies!

MajorGeeks.ComFirst let's get right to the point. Cookies are not problems that you need to be concerned with. Too many antispyware programs flag cookies and make them sound like they are high risk items. The truth is that they are not high risk problems and in most cases are actually very useful to you.

This subject has long been debated on the internet and obviously there are many opinions about cookies. Cookies are not executable programs. They are simple text files stored on your PC to help websites (and you) track useful user settings and non-personal information, like which advertisement you last saw (which prevents you from seeing the same ad over and over again).

Yes some cookies are often referred to tracking cookies, but tracking is more complicated then just having a cookie. Every website you visit would have to have knowledge of the particular cookie so that they could use it to add tracking info to it and to make use of it. You will see many antispyware programs indicating various cookies as tracking cookies and this can artifically make detection counts look very high. It is also a sore point when doing comparisons between antispyware programs. If one program detects cookies and another does not, it can make the one that does not detect them look like it is doing a bad job.

Similarly it makes the one detecting them look like a great product since it picks up things the other missed. Thus most (not all) programs will detect cookies to avoid this hazard. Don't be fooled by cookie counting. If cookies are the only thing showing up, you are in good shape. They are not harmful and you can just ignore them or if so desired, you can easily clean them using your browser or other tools like CCleaner.

Microsoft Cookies FAQ
Wikipedia HTTP Cookie

Cookie Viewer allows you to discover the information that web sites store on your computer.
Cookie Cruncher protects your hard drive from unwanted cookies.

[Hybr!d]

Nice article, thanks!

[sophus]

A common mistake indeed. Cookies aren't really that threat some may picture. More of a privacy issue.
Now, the thing about being fooled by cookie counting had never come to my mind. But it's true. Some anti-spyware even count disabling your windows automatic update as a problem! That's a bit of overkill, in my opinion.
Good point evilfantasy!

[mike4life]

nice 1,
bt 1 fing, im in college and was jst wondering,
is it the cookies that the network admins use to see what sites
we've been on?


mike
x|X|x

[DreamHazard]

Originally Posted by mike4life

nice 1,
bt 1 fing, im in college and was jst wondering,
is it the cookies that the network admins use to see what sites
we've been on?


mike
x|X|x

Usually network admins can just monitor what goes through the system anyway, and have their own tracking systems in place. When I was in school we used to believe that you couldn't be tracked if you delete your cookies, but people were still banned from using the computer systems for accessing illicit material.

And that way, you can even be traced if you use a circumventor or proxy server.

[MySlowQuietLife]

Great article.
Norton is one of those that detects tracking cookies and deletes or Quratines them but then tells you that it had NO risk.
Cookies give the user a unique (which i use loosely) online experince.

[evilfantasy]

Updated to add this article from Cookie Central

The Unofficial Cookie FAQ

2.4 Are cookies dangerous to my computer?
NO. A cookie is a simple piece of text. It is not a program, or a plug-in. It cannot be used as a virus, and it cannot access your hard drive. Your browser (not a programmer) can save cookie values to your hard disk if it needs to, but that is the limit of the effect on your system.[/quote]

[Ozzie82]

Dont know if this does anything good or bad but, i read somewhere onetime that to set cookie handling up like so




Ive mines set like this all the time but whether it does anything am not sure

Tick override cookie handling then check (block) under thrid-party cookies and tick always allow session cookies. Leave first-party cookies as prompt

In default settings cookies are automatically handle

[serverguy]

That picture came from Spyware Info, as you know.

As the article there says (http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/cookies/), cookies can be used to track your browsing habits. When they do this, they are known as third party cookies, and are not necessary. They can be blocked if you want to.

Originally Posted by Ozzie82

Dont know if this does anything good or bad but, i read somewhere onetime that to set cookie handling up like so




Ive mines set like this all the time but whether it does anything am not sure

Tick override cookie handling then check (block) under thrid-party cookies and tick always allow session cookies. Leave first-party cookies as prompt

In default settings cookies are automatically handle

[mrberty]

Coockies are files that are saved on your hard drive to specifiy to what site you have been on and maybe if you have sleceted the option it will remmber your password and login information.