Serious Note - Cookies & Security

[muman613]

The media has recently run stories which decry the fact that the WhiteHouse website will start using Web Cookies to track users. Initially I was against this, but the fact of the matter is, just about every website we visit today embeds cookies on the users web cache.

I just checked and JTF uses cookies to allow us to be logged in, by using a session ID. Most browsers do allow you to restrict cookies on certain sites. But most users do not do this, and thus they accumulate many cookies on their machine. It is also possible that cookies can be used in a court of law in order to demonstrate that a defendant visited certain websites.

It is good practice, just for personal privacy reasons, to clear your cookies from time to time. It is possible for the law enforcement agencies to retrieve cookies which were deleted {just as any file which we 'delete' is not truly deleted}.

I thought about this so that JTF users should be aware of how cookies are used. We don't discuss illegal activity here, so for the most part we have nothing to worry about. Should there come a time when our freedom of expression is infringed, then we should learn more about computer security matters.

[Rubystars]

Muman what about the product BCWipe? I used to have that on one of my old computers and it claimed to delete the remnants of deleted files.

[The One and Only Mo]

The media has recently run stories which decry the fact that the WhiteHouse website will start using Web Cookies to track users. Initially I was against this, but the fact of the matter is, just about every website we visit today embeds cookies on the users web cache.

I just checked and JTF uses cookies to allow us to be logged in, by using a session ID. Most browsers do allow you to restrict cookies on certain sites. But most users do not do this, and thus they accumulate many cookies on their machine. It is also possible that cookies can be used in a court of law in order to demonstrate that a defendant visited certain websites.

It is good practice, just for personal privacy reasons, to clear your cookies from time to time. It is possible for the law enforcement agencies to retrieve cookies which were deleted {just as any file which we 'delete' is not truly deleted}.

I thought about this so that JTF users should be aware of how cookies are used. We don't discuss illegal activity here, so for the most part we have nothing to worry about. Should there come a time when our freedom of expression is infringed, then we should learn more about computer security matters.

Is there anything you DON'T know? Seriously, you're a very well rounded individual.

[syyuge]

The Cookies have made much simpler the job of Stalinist Big Brother of George Orwell. Big Brother could have never thought that all his jobs will be on his desktop.
 

[muman613]

The media has recently run stories which decry the fact that the WhiteHouse website will start using Web Cookies to track users. Initially I was against this, but the fact of the matter is, just about every website we visit today embeds cookies on the users web cache.

I just checked and JTF uses cookies to allow us to be logged in, by using a session ID. Most browsers do allow you to restrict cookies on certain sites. But most users do not do this, and thus they accumulate many cookies on their machine. It is also possible that cookies can be used in a court of law in order to demonstrate that a defendant visited certain websites.

It is good practice, just for personal privacy reasons, to clear your cookies from time to time. It is possible for the law enforcement agencies to retrieve cookies which were deleted {just as any file which we 'delete' is not truly deleted}.

I thought about this so that JTF users should be aware of how cookies are used. We don't discuss illegal activity here, so for the most part we have nothing to worry about. Should there come a time when our freedom of expression is infringed, then we should learn more about computer security matters.

Is there anything you DON'T know? Seriously, you're a very well rounded individual.

Shalom mo,

I have worked in the Software Engineering field since the mid-80s. I currently develop software tools which aid in development of Digital Signal Processor {DSP} chips used for decoding video and audio streams. These chips are used in consumer electronics such as HDTV, Blu-Ray disc players, and set-top boxes.

[The One and Only Mo]

The media has recently run stories which decry the fact that the WhiteHouse website will start using Web Cookies to track users. Initially I was against this, but the fact of the matter is, just about every website we visit today embeds cookies on the users web cache.

I just checked and JTF uses cookies to allow us to be logged in, by using a session ID. Most browsers do allow you to restrict cookies on certain sites. But most users do not do this, and thus they accumulate many cookies on their machine. It is also possible that cookies can be used in a court of law in order to demonstrate that a defendant visited certain websites.

It is good practice, just for personal privacy reasons, to clear your cookies from time to time. It is possible for the law enforcement agencies to retrieve cookies which were deleted {just as any file which we 'delete' is not truly deleted}.

I thought about this so that JTF users should be aware of how cookies are used. We don't discuss illegal activity here, so for the most part we have nothing to worry about. Should there come a time when our freedom of expression is infringed, then we should learn more about computer security matters.

Is there anything you DON'T know? Seriously, you're a very well rounded individual.

Shalom mo,

I have worked in the Software Engineering field since the mid-80s. I currently develop software tools which aid in development of Digital Signal Processor {DSP} chips used for decoding video and audio streams. These chips are used in consumer electronics such as HDTV, Blu-Ray disc players, and set-top boxes.

Can you tell me the best and cheapest TV and printer to buy and how to do it?

[muman613]

The media has recently run stories which decry the fact that the WhiteHouse website will start using Web Cookies to track users. Initially I was against this, but the fact of the matter is, just about every website we visit today embeds cookies on the users web cache.

I just checked and JTF uses cookies to allow us to be logged in, by using a session ID. Most browsers do allow you to restrict cookies on certain sites. But most users do not do this, and thus they accumulate many cookies on their machine. It is also possible that cookies can be used in a court of law in order to demonstrate that a defendant visited certain websites.

It is good practice, just for personal privacy reasons, to clear your cookies from time to time. It is possible for the law enforcement agencies to retrieve cookies which were deleted {just as any file which we 'delete' is not truly deleted}.

I thought about this so that JTF users should be aware of how cookies are used. We don't discuss illegal activity here, so for the most part we have nothing to worry about. Should there come a time when our freedom of expression is infringed, then we should learn more about computer security matters.

Is there anything you DON'T know? Seriously, you're a very well rounded individual.

Shalom mo,

I have worked in the Software Engineering field since the mid-80s. I currently develop software tools which aid in development of Digital Signal Processor {DSP} chips used for decoding video and audio streams. These chips are used in consumer electronics such as HDTV, Blu-Ray disc players, and set-top boxes.

Can you tell me the best and cheapest TV and printer to buy and how to do it?

I am not so good at those kinds of things. I just work in development. I know that our chips are in Sony, Sanyo, Samsung, Toshiba, LG, and other devices...

Sorry... I wish I could help.

[angryChineseKahanist]

I often forget to delete cookies and other temp files.
There are many places to go thru though. Its a pain.
Its a pain also because I have to pick and choose the thousands of files. I have to pick out the banking cookies from all the junk cookies.

[briann]

This is a very good point.  Here is a suggestion.  Use firefox and use cookiepie.  Then, when you are in viewing jtf, open it in a new tab, and toggle it to use separate cookies.  Then the cookies will only be completely separate from all other browsing activity (Which you would do in a separate tab)

Another option (which might be easier and more practical) is to create a shortcut, and put this as the location:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -p jtf -no-remote            , and then name it 'jtf shortcut'

Then click it, and create a profile called jtf and then it will take you to a parrallel version of your browser, which you will use ONLY for jtf. Everything else will be on your default firefox (which you can use at the same time as the jtf firefox).  You can even set this one up to use a proxy, so that they wont be able to do any sorta IP farming.

[mord]

Download CCleaner.com

[briann]

Muman what about the product BCWipe? I used to have that on one of my old computers and it claimed to delete the remnants of deleted files.

If you are wiping a hardrive that you will NEVER use again, you should use BCWipe Total WipeOut 2.20 to create a boot disk, and then restart the computer, and boot to the cd you created, and wipe everything (really only 1 pass is sufficient, but you can do more if you are paraniod)

dont use something that you wipe while you are running windows, since these NEVER seem to be able to wipe everything.

[mord]

http://www.ccleaner.com/