Gadgetory

in a perfect world a browser cookie would be something sweet and delicious that Chrome Firefox or edge would shoot out of the screen so that you could enjoy filling up on empty calories while you watch tech quickie but tragically we don't live in a perfect world and in a computing context the term cookie doesn't refer to free desserts instead cookies are actually small files stored in your browser cache that can do a number of useful things but have also been scrutinized for potentially compromising user privacy so how exactly do these things work and why the heck are they even called cookies the name actually comes from magic cookie which was an early term for a small piece of data passed between computers usually for identification purposes modern browser cookies also identify your computer but they serve the additional purpose of tracking your activity which actually isn't always as nefarious as it sounds the way it works is that when you visit a cookie enabled site for the first time let's say Amazon the site will put a cookie on your computer that contains a unique ID Amazon uses this ID to keep track of your session so that the site knows which shopping card is yours and what you've looked at so it can suggest stuff like toilet paper to you if you were browsing for industrial-sized packs of microwave burritos session management with cookies has many more applications though than just virtual shopping carts the identifier in a cookie can allow a server to keep track of your logins so you don't have to keep punching in your password every time you visit a site and it can remember how you've customized the layout or appearance of a page previously cookies also allow sites to figure out how many unique visitors they get since each unique visitor has their own ID contained within a cookie which is important for webmasters who need analytics data for business development ok Linus I get that cookies make things more convenient but I heard they can also make me fat I mean spy on me what's the deal with that well one of the most common ways that your browser can compromise your privacy is by allowing third party cookies which are sent from sites other than the one that you're visiting for instance banner ads are often hosted on a different domain than the one that you're actually browsing and can plant cookies on your computer that track you across multiple sites which many people find intrusive and downright creepy but even worse is the potential for cookie theft which is exactly what it sounds like usually super sensitive things like website passwords aren't stored in cookies but the identifiers in the cookie can be used to essentially steal a logged in session meaning that an attacker could access your shopping cart bank account or even medical records without even knowing your password and get this browsers usually just store your cookies in plain text without any encryption making them a vulnerable target though using websites that transmit cookie data over a secure connection can help somewhat so what can you do then to mitigate these privacy risks well first of all most browsers will allow you to disable third-party cookies with a simple option so you'll only get cookies directly from the site that you're visiting and if you want to take it a step further you can disable cookies entirely if you don't mind missing out on the features that they offer number two is if you've got cookies on or even just in general be careful about what you click on and what sites you're browsing if you're only navigating to trusted sites that are going to not spy on you then no one will be spying on you although it's not always easy to tell who to trust these days and finally keeping the hard drive on your computer encrypted is actually a pretty key one because if someone walks off with your entire computer and all the cookies on it it's an easy way to have the bad guys putting their hands in your cookie jar so to speak and on the subject of bad guys you know who's not bad guys lynda.com over at lynda.com you can watch and learn from top experts about all kinds of stuff like they've got thousands of video courses you can take up digital photography or Photoshop or video editing or business or whatever the case may be you can browse course transcripts to follow along or search for answers and skip to that point in the video this is actually a relatively new feature you can download the tutorials and watch them on the go including access on your iOS or Android device you can create playlists and share with your friends or watch playlists that your friends have created so you guys can go through your coursework together it's great stuff and it's free to try for 10 days after that it starts at a flat rate of just $25 a month so whether you're looking to become an industry expert or you're just passionate about a hobby or whatever else check out lynda.com/tekzilla slike tit do the other thing if you want to check out our other channels we've got a great video over on channel super fun where we like threw darts at pizza and ate Marmite which is apparently something people down in the southern hemisphere actually like for whatever reason thanks again for watching as always don't forget to subscribe and follow and all that good stuff and I will see you again next time cue the angry comments from Australians and New Zealanders in the below the video place