Most people who
browse or
surf the internet are familiar with the term cookie. It's a txt file that your web browser uses to make your life easier when visiting the webpages you visit most often. While these cookies will not harm your computer or it's software they do contain data that could be personal and they also could contain data that companies use to track your surfing habits. Most people believe it's an invasion of privacy so over the years it has become easier to delete cookies. These options are often located in the browser itself.
However, now the convicted creator of the Samy Worm has shown the world how to create an Evercookie. This is a cookie that is extremely hard to delete because it copies the cookie to several different places. So when it get's deleted in one spot it can regenerate itself. It might be a bit technical but I would suggest that you read the following the 3 articles. The old saying that an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure is definitely true in this case and the easiest way to prevent yourself from getting an evercookie is to...
1) use Firefox's "private browsing" mode
2) install the Firefox addon called "noscript"
3) turn off scripting in IE
# Click the Tools menu, then Internet Options.
# On the Security tab, click Internet.
# Click Custom Level and scroll to Active scripting (near the bottom of the scrolling window).
# Click Disable to completely shut down JavaScript, or click Prompt to make IE ask before running any scripts.
# Click OK, Yes, OK.
However, keep in mind that using options 2 and/or 3 will "break" most websites you visit. Certain things will not work they way you are use to or the website will display differently. The nice thing about option #2 is that you can control this and let things through that you trust.
The next front in the cookie wars: Fighting the EvercookieKilling the EvercookieIt is Possible to Kill the Evercookie
