Security expert Robert Siciliano does an interview with Fox News where he just makes up stuff about cookies being able to track all your online behavior. By the way, he calls himself an “identity theft expert”. Best quotes:
“These types of cookies, they actually track the computer user’s behaviours, what they like, what they dislike, what they buy, websites they visit. These types of cookies can record usernames and passwords […].”
“Cookies’ closest cousin is spyware. Cookies aren’t spyware, but they are very close.”
Cookies don’t do any of that. They can just store a small piece of text in your browser that identifies you when you are on that website. It serves for remembering passwords and stuff like that, and it certaintly can’t spy on you.
Shameful scaremongering, aka, typical fox news.
“If I am wrong about this cookie thing, please correct me in the comments, but from what I know about technology, this guy is just plain wrong”
I don’t know if your right or wrong but don’t you think you should have found out before you posted the story saying he is lying?
I mean if he is wright and you are wrong what are you doing? Lying?
THE COOKIES ARE COMING!!!!
RUN!
or get flush…
Nope you’re right. Cookies are beneign, can’t harm you like they say. (I’m in IT so I’ll put my foot in it)
Technically, cookies can be used for most of those things. While cookies are just data, it’s how that data is used that’s the problem.
Usually, cookies are sent to the site that created them only. However, a third party can host a server for the purpose of creating and recording cookies. Content providers then hide a 1×1 gif that is served off the “cookie” server on every page.
When the content is served, the image is requested from the “cookie server”. The request includes the referrer (the content page) and the cookie previously sent by the “cookie server”.
Through this, your progress through multiple sites can be tracked and analyzed. Thus you can “actually track the computer user’s behaviors, what they like, what they dislike, what they buy, websites they visit.”
This is how products like WebTrends works.
I’m not so sure about user codes and passwords.
This site is using many, many of these type of cookies.
Cookies are not spying on you just like the internet is not for porn.
Cookies closest cousin is spyware…:) I like that. (funny) It reminds me of the Homeland Security said that all companies accross the US should dump IE becase it had the most security updates, and therefore must have been problematic. (sheesh)
I tell you one thing ,If I’m not an expert and or was’nt sure about this I would have at least asked around before posting.
Why is Leo always warning everyone about cookies? Just to fattening?
Thinker, so what if you’re in IT. I have a CompTIA certification in network security. TWIT has a great podcast called Security Now and anyone that goes online should listen. Here’s a quick article that give you some basic background…
How Web Servers’ Cookies Threaten Your Privacy
http://www.junkbusters.com/cookies.html
Read about Super Cookies.
Let me see, a security expert tells you something, and without researching the facts you call him a lair. How blue collar of you. It is certainly not intellectual. There is a new type of “Flash” cookie I have been reading about latly. And the talk is that the whitehouse is using these cookies. They are NOT the generic text files that we think of as cookies, but active flash files that, if I am reading the articles correctly, do track your online movement. Another reason I hate Flash. Also there are several types of text cookies. There are the simple ones that go back to the host website. But there are also second party cookies, that report to servers of advertisements. These cookies CAN track you web movements. At least as far as what affiliated sites you go too.
I don’t worry about being tracked, because I use Firefox, and I have the extensions to block flash and text cookies. I also wrote a batch file to delete any flash cookies that might sneak through my defenses.
I’m so glad I warped my mouse in tinfoil and put black tape over the camera lens on top of screen.
J Fletcher ,
Macromedia Flash can activate your web camera remotely without your consent. So if you have not set you Flash “properties”, you should put black tape over your web camera.
I just read an article on wired about something called “flash cookies.” The article, titled “You Deleted Your Cookies? Think Again,” and posted 10 August 2009, makes some interesting points related to the story posted on the Dvorak website:
Even the Whitehouse.gov showed up in the report, with researchers reporting they found a Flash cookie with the name “userId.” The site does say in its privacy policy that it uses tracking technology but it does not mention Flash or tell users how to get rid of the Flash cookie.
The report is being submitted Monday as a comment in the government’s proceeding about the use of cookies on federal websites. Federal websites have traditionally been banned from using tracking cookies, despite being common around the web — a situation the Obama administration is proposing to change as part of an attempt to modernize government websites.
HOWEVER, all this means is that the cookies you deleted pertaining to the website keep getting added again without your knowledge, and data is gathered about how many visits you make. You are right about the implication that Robert Siciliano is a security expert in name only.
Robert Siciliano is incompetent. He calls himself a security expert and he doesn’t understand the basics about cookies. WOW.
It serves for remembering passwords and stuff like that, but it can’t spy on you.
Yes, you can use cookies to spy on users (“track”). But if you flush your cookies on a daily basis, or don’t accept cookies… you’ll be just fine.
Seriously… I don’t think they’ll use it to track the surf habits of Billy-Joe-Jim-Bob i Hillbillyville, Tennessee. They need it to make better apps that can work across multiple domains etc.
But why is Fox News so concerned about this all of a sudden? The NSA has been tracking your surfing habits for ages.
#10 – hhopper
Protect yourself against Super Cookies with BetterPrivacy (Firefox add-on).
If they activate my webcam, they’re in for a shock.
If you want to thwart “Super Cookies,” get the add-on BetterPrivacy.
Oops… Jägermeister beat me to it.
For those who doesn’t know:
Super Cookies = Flash cookies
Install BetterPrivacy, and you’re fine.
The flash cookies are particularly bad because most users have started to routinely clear “cookies”. However, flash cookies (which aren’t really HTTP cookies) aren’t cleared when you clear cookies. Flash provides the ability for apps to store data locally. This can be abused the same way as the 1×1 gif through a hidden flash app that you don’t even know is there.
http://ghacks.net/2007/05/04/flash-cookies-explained/
BTW, I agree with the others that declaring that someone “blatantly lies” before even understanding topic is a bad idea
[Please drop the WWW from URLs as WordPress doesn’t display it properly… plus it’s unnecessary. – ed.]
From Wikipedia:
“Being simple pieces of text, cookies are not executable. They are neither spyware or viruses, although cookies from certain sites are detected by many anti-spyware products because they can allow users to be tracked when they visit various sites.”
So, though cookies are not harmful unless you consider an invasion of privacy harmful, but then again neither is most spyware. What this guy said seems to be in line with reality. You can debate the details of tracking cookies, but any if there is any discrepancy it hardly qualifies as a ‘lie’.
Seems to me that someone was itching to post a story that included the words “Fox News” and “Lies”. This post does not belong in the “politics” category.
HOWEVER, all this means is that the cookies you deleted pertaining to the website keep getting added again without your knowledge, and data is gathered about how many visits you make. You are right about the implication that Robert Siciliano is a security expert in name only.
Scratch that last part. I misread the article I posted an excerpt from. It does appear that the complaint by Mr. Siciliano is legit, as #11 commenter says.
#18 – Will – The flash cookies are particularly bad because most users have started to routinely clear “cookies”. However, flash cookies (which aren’t really HTTP cookies) aren’t cleared when you clear cookies.
That’s why you need to install BetterPrivacy.
Good that Fox is keeping the sheep up to speed on Prez Obama with experts uncovering the secret and sinister ‘Project Cookie”
Boo
Cookies arn’t spying on you, just like recording your IP Address isn’t spying on you, Just like keyloggers aren’t spying you, just like aggregating every website you’ve ever vistited and everything you’ve ever searched for and selling that information to people who are going to spam you isn’t spying on you… But I digress. That’s not spying.
I just checked BetterPrivacy and I’ve collected 12 super cookies in the last hour. It seems that many web sites are utilizing these much more powerful and persistent cookies now. I have it set to delete them when I leave FireFox.
It’s not Fox News.
It’s spelled Fox “News”.
Get it right!
Cookies can be used for session tracking and such. Grownups (reputable companies and agencies) have governance to demonstrate that privacy laws and other regulatory matters are managed correctly and demonstrably.
Robert Siciliano is a professional speaker on the subject and he makes money scaring non-technical people with this kind of stuff. For example, equating cookies to spyware is obviously stupid but he doesn’t care since he’ll sell more books and speaking engagements.
If you’re worried about this, turn off your cookies either for all sites or just the domains you’re concerned about. If sites want to learn about your behavior (how often you visit, the types of things you’re interested in, etc) then cookies are just one way of several to do this.
In a nutshell, if you want privacy, then don’t go online.
Cheney type scare the shit out of people so they will be hesitant to go to a web site where they might find the truth about anything. Just more reinforcement for the growing opinion that no word in the English language is more vile or repulsive signifying a disgusting nature of lies and deceit as the word “republican.”
#16 – hhopper – Oops… Jägermeister beat me to it.
I wish I could edit my posts as well… 🙂
[Yeah, I wish commenters could edit their posts too. – ed.]
Scaring the Fox news sheep from doing internet research and glued to O’Really is a great idea.
Why would any “normal” person care about “being tracked” as long as their credit card number is not stolen?
Amusing. Average person thinking they are this important.
Its just stupid (people in the system who have sold some other stupid people on the benfits of cookie tracking info) feeding on stupid (99% of people thinking their privacy is worthy anything).