Web Stalkers using Cookies

As more and more people of the world are shopping and surfing online, the need to increase our awareness of the potential security threats involved in gaining access to our personal information is critical.

A computer cookie refers to the name of files that a web page we visit leaves on the hard drive of a personal computer.  Cookies help websites learn usage patterns, frequency of return visitors and other pertinent information. They can also store private information.

When shopping online, a cookie might be used to keep track of what items a consumer places into their shopping cart.  Once the consumer makes payment, the credit card number used is positioned on the hard drive of their computer so that the next time they shop online at this website, the “Use the same credit card as last time purchase” option is available.

Clearly this is a potential security threat to the consumer.  According to Stephen Andert in his book Web Stalkers: Protect yourself from Internet Criminals and Psychopaths:

“If one website could read another website’s cookies, criminals could gain access to any credit card a user has ever used online.”

The good news is that normally this is not possible, but there are security vulnerabilities, that could allow this to happen. 

An additional problem with cookies is that they identify, to anyone who is viewing them, which websites a person has visited.  This in itself perhaps does not pose as large a threat as credit card information; however, it is disconcerting to know that others could view the websites that we visit on our personal computers.  Further this knowledge could allow those with negative intent to “slam” our e-mail inbox’s with spam.

How do we protect ourselves from cookie stalking? Most web browsers give the user’s the ability to either prevent all cookies or manually delete them upon making the request.  If a person prevents all cookies, this would significantly hinder many online activities that they will be able to take online.  The better solution is to manually and regularly delete cookies. This results in any passwords, credit card information, user name and so forth that have been stored on your computer being erased. The next time you visit that website; this means you will have to re-enter--type in--your user id and password to gain access to your account on that website.

Although regularly, frequently deleting cookies manually is a bit of an inconvenience, if it saves you--the consumer from financial fraud or identity theft, it is well worth the extra effort.  A good security habit to get into is, once you have completed a task, let’s say visited a website and made an online purchase, to just manually delete all your cookies from your computer before shutting it down for the day or night or going to another website.

Consider additionally even more the importance of this is one uses a laptop. If the laptop is stolen and the owner has not regularly and frequently deleted cookies, the thief could go on a shopping spree using the credit card information left in cookie form.

In addition, there are companies that sell programs called “Cookie Managers.”  One such company is Riverdeep Interactive Learning. Among their products offered is Identity Theft Protector (sold under the Broderbound brand name). These programs allow the user to control which cookies they want to keep and which ones they want deleted.  A great feature of this type of program is its ability to alert the user ever time a cookie is left on their computer.

Being aware of these risks and what can be done to protect ourselves, will enable consumers to better protect against security threats and breaches which can create unwanted and daunting dealings in order to clear up.

Enjoy the convenience and efficiency of online shopping and information gathering, however, always remember to delete unwanted cookies to protect yourself, and put safety and security first.

Related Websites:
Websites - that are worth visiting to learn more about how to protect yourself cookie stalking are:
http://epic.org/privacy/tools.html
http://www.privacy.net/
http://www.anonymizer.com/

Related Product:

Identity Theft Protector™ 2005 - Download