Trusted Sites

[Geoplay]

Having selected certain sites to be included in the trusted Zone in IE6, and
set them to keep my log in information so that I don't have to log in each
time I access them; if I run CCleaner, with 'cookies' selected to scan, or I
do an AV scan, it seems that those settings have been removed, and I have to
enter the log in info again. I cannot determine whether it is some setting
in either of those applications, or something in the settings of the OS
(XPProSP2) that does not like one or the other of those applications. I must
add that those sites are still showing as they were in the Trusted zone. Any
help would be appreciated.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Having selected certain sites to be included in the trusted Zone in
IE6, and set them to keep my log in information so that I don't have
to log in each time I access them; if I run CCleaner, with 'cookies'
selected to scan, or I do an AV scan, it seems that those settings
have been removed, and I have to enter the log in info again. I
cannot determine whether it is some setting in either of those
applications, or something in the settings of the OS (XPProSP2) that
does not like one or the other of those applications. I must add that
those sites are still showing as they were in the Trusted zone. Any
help would be appreciated.

Not sure what options you've got in your AV software or CCLeaner (I don't
use the latter regularly) but you can save your "wanted" cookies out to
another folder, so you can drag them back in when they get cleaned out by
whatever cleaning method you're using.

Another option - use Firefox with addins that will allow you to clean out
only what you want (and FEBE to back up your profile/addins).

 

[Kurt]

Well, IE will save the logon information for many of the sites in cookies,
so deleting cookies will delete the cached logon information. Why are you
deleting cookies? Has someone convinced you that they are a security hazard?
You'll get different opinions from different people, I've been doing Windows
security for nearly 15 years now and have done a lot of deeply technical
work as well as things at an executive management level. I don't think
cookies are a security threat, the worst that can happen is someone (usually
an online advertiser) uses cookies to try to track some of your surfing
habits but there are ways to gather much of that information without cookies
too. Cookies are just text files that a website can use to store some data
unique to you so that your shopping cart or user preferences or whatever can
be retrieved when you return, they are not executable files like a virus or
trojan.

Kurt Dillard

 

[Twayne]

Having selected certain sites to be included in the trusted Zone in

IE6, and set them to keep my log in information so that I don't have
to log in each time I access them; if I run CCleaner, with 'cookies'
selected to scan, or I do an AV scan, it seems that those settings
have been removed, and I have to enter the log in info again. I
cannot determine whether it is some setting in either of those
applications, or something in the settings of the OS (XPProSP2) that
does not like one or the other of those applications. I must add that
those sites are still showing as they were in the Trusted zone. Any
help would be appreciated.

There is a lot of controversey over what can and can not be done with
cookies. They're "just" text files, but there are some nefarious uses
for them. In most but not al cases, how "bad" they are is in the eye of
the recipient and most are harmless or ever very useful as you are
aware.

Here are a couple links for your edification that seem to have pretty
good handles on them:

http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/ an excellent FAQ & how-to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie
http://www.cookiecentral.com/c_concept.htm

Probably the worst thing about cookies for most people is it's possible
to amass thousands of them which makes for an incredibly long folder
list but they're small text files and take very little space in the
overall scheme of things.

I use WinPatrol to manage cookies (among other things); easy to set the
ones I want to keep and kill the rest. Lots of handy features. Also
free.

HTH
--
Regards,

Twayne

Open Office isn't just for wimps anymore;
OOo is a GREAT MS Office replacement
www.openoffice.org

 

[Twayne]

Well, IE will save the logon information for many of the sites in
cookies, so deleting cookies will delete the cached logon
information. Why are you deleting cookies? Has someone convinced you
that they are a security hazard? You'll get different opinions from
different people, I've been doing Windows security for nearly 15
years now and have done a lot of deeply technical work as well as
things at an executive management level. I don't think cookies are a
security threat, the worst that can happen is someone (usually an
online advertiser) uses cookies to try to track some of your surfing
habits but there are ways to gather much of that information without
cookies too. Cookies are just text files that a website can use to
store some data unique to you so that your shopping cart or user
preferences or whatever can be retrieved when you return, they are
not executable files like a virus or trojan.
Kurt Dillard

I respectfully submit that you may want to check out the links I posted
for the OP. Things are a lot different today than they were a decade or
more ago. Since cookies ARE small and are text files, a user will
almost never notice when they do things, good bad or indifferent, and
the "bad" ones are always done covertly.

Most everything you said is true but there are the servers out there
that might, and often do, use them for dastardly purposes, including
bypassing your security systems given enough time to collect data. The
more cookies you collect, the more chances are that a combo of them can
give away personal information, especially if they contain log-on info.
A cookie is an automatic, often unrecognized method of a remote server
being able to connect to your machine: It asks for the cookie, sends
some info back, and guess what; they are connected to you. It's not
that literally simple, but that's the gist of it.
IMO the major problem with cookies is that they are placed on one's
hard drive covertly and without notice in most cases; never 100% good
for the user.
--
Regards,

Twayne

Open Office isn't just for wimps anymore;
OOo is a GREAT MS Office replacement
www.openoffice.org