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Cookies do not act maliciously on computer systems. They are merely text files that can be deleted at any time – they are not plug ins nor are they programs. Cookies cannot be used to spread viruses and they cannot access your hard drive.
Since the data in cookies doesn’t change, cookies themselves aren’t harmful. They can’t infect computers with viruses or other malware. However, some cyberattacks can hijack cookies and enable access to your browsing sessions. The danger lies in their ability to track individuals’ browsing histories.
How can cookies be managed?
Clear all cookies
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- At the top right, click More. Settings.
- Under “Privacy and security,” click Cookies and other site data.
- Click See all cookies and site data. Remove all.
- Confirm by clicking Clear all.
How is Cookie tossing an attack on cookies?
Cookie tossing is one of the major types of attack on cookies and can be explained as follows. Consider a user visits “www.example.com” and receives the domain cookie. The next time the user browses the same site, the cookie is sent to the web server.
YouTube uses cookies to analyze the user preferences and customize the user results with the cookie data. The first time a user visits YouTube he/she will be provided with only a random number of results. After one or two views, a preference is set up for the user and is stored in the user’s cookies.
For each specific user, there will be bits of data that are associated with them by cookies. For example, when you go to a website, you may be identified as “User X” by a cookie that’s been delivered by the site.
Are there any security risks associated with cookies?
Risk Associated with Cookies 1 Cross Site Request Forgery Attack (XSRF) A browser sends a cookie in response to a request, regardless of where the request came from. 2 Session Fixation. Session fixation attacks are based on application level. 3 Cross-Site Scripting. 4 Cookie Tossing Attack. 5 Cookie Overflow Attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG-ia-IOPnM