Cookies

What is the BEST way to prevent a "cookie" from showing up on one's hard drive??

IE6 is what I use.
Thank you...

tons of fun
P.S.- I run Ad-Aware daily....after IE6 session.

First step is to set your Privacy settings on IE to "High" and manually edit the policy file enable certain sites to allow them to use cookies (otherwise, you won't be able to certain things on sites, such as log in here). Next, either find a cookie blocking program or get a program which sweeps the temporary files (including temporary internet files, cookies, history, etc.) off of the hard drive.

To block cookies, I have had good experiences with AdSubtract (it also blocks advertisements, popups, etc.). For removing temporary files, I use Evidence Eliminator. It's an expensive program, but I believe they have a trial for it on thier web site. Check it out. Also, as anyone'll tell you, if you search google and/or download.com, you'll find tons of different programs available for this.

AJ

EDIT: You may also want to just manually remove the cookies and such from your hard drive. If you use Windows 9x, they'll be under the Windows directory. If you use 2000 or XP, they'll be under your Documents and Settings / Username / Local Settings folder

The best and reliable way IMHO is using "Proxomitron" which has "fake a cookie out" and "fake a cookie in" option. http://www.spamblocked.com/proxomitron/

Depends on the OS...for W9x, when you are done for the day, "Restart in MS-DOS mode", and type "del c:\windows\cookies\index.dat", then "deltree /y c:\windows\cookies", then just shut down.
Otherwise, modifying the IE response to cookies as suggested above is good, although can cause problems with some websites that require cookies for viewing.
You could also download a cookie cutter program from a site such as www.cnet.com ...(Proxomitron can be a bit difficult to use, sometimes)

There are a million solutions to the 'cookie' problem, nowadays...just run a few google searches on the subject and you will be busy all day trying out different solutions.

Ouroboros

Why do u guys care so much about cookies??
I wonder why i did.. even now im blocking most of them, but i dont care about those 20-30 cookies anymore on my computer.

Some of the "cookies" are actually "spyware", so..what I use to clean them out is a combination of adaware and Spybot~search and destroy~ ...then block them using spyware blaster.....

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Originally posted here by jintao
Why do u guys care so much about cookies??
I wonder why i did.. even now im blocking most of them, but i dont care about those 20-30 cookies anymore on my computer.

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I just read an article on SecurityFocus that discusses website security. This part in particular explains some of the problems with cookies. It's more for the website developer but it does give you an idea of why some cookies are interresting for an attacker.

Penetration Testing for Web Applications (Part Three)

When you recieve a cookie in IE there will be a litle icon in the bottem bar, on the right side near where the little lock is when you enter an 'https' site. Double click this item and you will be imediatly in the 'cookie configuration' of IE.
Now the interesting part:

Quote:

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Why do u guys care so much about cookies??

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<question>Why do you care to respond to a thread that is over a year old.</question>
Cookies can be malicious. Cookies are stored in a 'known' place and can contain sensitive information (such as your login info).
Taken from one of my other posts regarding cookies ::
Cookies have always been a mayor discussion factor since they were first introduced on the internet.
Here are some more articles thay may help you understand the ins and outs of cookies:
A Cookies Monster? (http://www.usual.com/article6.htm)
How Web Servers' Cookies Threaten Your Privacy (http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html)
Cookies And Privacy FAQ (http://www.cookiecentral.com/content.phtml?area=4&id=10)
The official specification of HTTP cookies (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2109.txt) ::
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...795#post654795