Now it's Zombie cookies to worry about

tdew · 07-29-2010, 05:51 AM

Evidently these are totally different from the browser cookies we've all learned to deal with. These are Flash based.
Read the story here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10787882

Ned · 07-29-2010, 08:36 AM

Removing Flash cookies is very easy. You need to go to the Flash settings manager and you can get to it online at:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/do...manager07.html

I use this site about once per week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdew

Evidently these are totally different from the browser cookies we've all learned to deal with. These are Flash based.
Read the story here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10787882

tdew · 07-29-2010, 08:58 AM

Yes, it may be easy to do, but first we have to know that they exist! And then there's the problem of companies that are putting them back in place after they've been deleted.

Ned · 07-29-2010, 09:26 AM

Adobe, has never hidden the fact that they exist. All you have to do is look at their flash site after you install flash to find out about them. Adobe is very forthright about this:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/security/

As to the zombies, there's been lots of news about this since UC Berkley computer scientists brought them to light in early 2009. Steve Jobs has been in the news talking them up as the main reason he refuses to let the iPhone or iPad use Flash.

I would have mentioned them (Zombies) here last year except I thought they were so much in the news it was unnecessary.

While the Zombie problem is real, I personally think it's very much overblown, as are the problems of cookies in general. Most malware today no longer uses cookies. Cookies are really a matter of privacy, but even that isn't all that bad if you use simple procedures to make them mostly non-harmful.

I never save passwords when on the net.
I never save credit card info when on the net.
I never click on the box which maintains your login on a website, so the cookie doesn't keep your login information.
I clean out my cookies regularly.
I never use a public computer to log into anything.
Anytime I log into my credit card accounts, billing accounts, bank accounts, etc. I delete the individual cookie immediately after logging out.
I never just close a website tab or window in which I've logged in. I always log out first which normally clears the site's cookie.

These are easy and fast to use items.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdew

Yes, it may be easy to do, but first we have to know that they exist! And then there's the problem of companies that are putting them back in place after they've been deleted.

tdew · 07-29-2010, 02:35 PM

Ned, Thanks for the link. I went and checked my settings at Adobe.

I'm pretty sure though that I'm not the only one who'd never heard about this other type of cookie.

Gesualdo · 07-29-2010, 02:55 PM

I never heard of them either, and I read a lot of tech news. Guess I better start reading even more - I'm about to start working on a computer degree.

Ned · 07-29-2010, 04:08 PM

I'm sure that plenty of people have never heard of it, but anyone who has listened to Steve Jobs rant about Flash would definitely know about it. It has been in the news periodically over the last 15 months or so.

I don't think anyone's made a big deal of it until now however, in part because there are so many fewer Flash cookies and they have so much less information than browser cookies, that few worried about them very much.

I think from now one I need to think more pro-actively for our members here and bring more of this stuff up.

katroa · 08-01-2010, 08:21 PM

WSJ had an excellent article in yesterday's weekend edition. I had never heard of this until then!..

What is amazing, the WORST website to go to that tracks you?..Dictionary.com!!! (and Comcast is way up on the tracking list, too...)

Ned · 08-02-2010, 04:32 AM

Don't forget about the Beacons. Very few know about them.

Web pages may contain an electronic file called a web beacon, that allows a web site to count users who have visited that page or to access certain cookies.

I use the Firefox Add-on Ghostery to protect myself against beacons.

katroa · 08-02-2010, 07:32 AM

Here is the link to the WSJ:
(Long , but well worth the read)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...LEFTTopStories

07-29-2010, 05:51 AM	#1
tdew Senior Member Über Poster Member since: Apr 2005 Location: Bergen Co, NJ Posts: 3,628 Rep Power: 228	Now it's Zombie cookies to worry about Evidently these are totally different from the browser cookies we've all learned to deal with. These are Flash based. Read the story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10787882

07-29-2010, 04:08 PM	#7
Ned Kishef macher Super Duper Über Poster Member since: Jul 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA USA Posts: 15,506 Rep Power: 392	I'm sure that plenty of people have never heard of it, but anyone who has listened to Steve Jobs rant about Flash would definitely know about it. It has been in the news periodically over the last 15 months or so. I don't think anyone's made a big deal of it until now however, in part because there are so many fewer Flash cookies and they have so much less information than browser cookies, that few worried about them very much. I think from now one I need to think more pro-actively for our members here and bring more of this stuff up. __________________ Ned [Visit my Travel Photography Blog, and Photography website NSL Photography]

08-02-2010, 04:32 AM	#9
Ned Kishef macher Super Duper Über Poster Member since: Jul 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA USA Posts: 15,506 Rep Power: 392	Don't forget about the Beacons. Very few know about them. Web pages may contain an electronic file called a web beacon, that allows a web site to count users who have visited that page or to access certain cookies. I use the Firefox Add-on Ghostery to protect myself against beacons. __________________ Ned [Visit my Travel Photography Blog, and Photography website NSL Photography]

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07-29-2010, 08:58 AM	#3
tdew Senior Member Über Poster Member since: Apr 2005 Location: Bergen Co, NJ Posts: 3,628 Rep Power: 228	Yes, it may be easy to do, but first we have to know that they exist! And then there's the problem of companies that are putting them back in place after they've been deleted.

07-29-2010, 02:35 PM	#5
tdew Senior Member Über Poster Member since: Apr 2005 Location: Bergen Co, NJ Posts: 3,628 Rep Power: 228	Ned, Thanks for the link. I went and checked my settings at Adobe. I'm pretty sure though that I'm not the only one who'd never heard about this other type of cookie.

07-29-2010, 02:55 PM	#6
Gesualdo Senior Member Platinum Poster Member since: Jul 2005 Location: Somewhere in the middle Posts: 1,809 Rep Power: 87	I never heard of them either, and I read a lot of tech news. Guess I better start reading even more - I'm about to start working on a computer degree.

08-01-2010, 08:21 PM	#8
katroa Travel Professional Gold Poster Member since: Jul 2007 Location: suburbia Posts: 795 Rep Power: 38	WSJ had an excellent article in yesterday's weekend edition. I had never heard of this until then!.. What is amazing, the WORST website to go to that tracks you?..Dictionary.com!!! (and Comcast is way up on the tracking list, too...)

08-02-2010, 07:32 AM	#10
katroa Travel Professional Gold Poster Member since: Jul 2007 Location: suburbia Posts: 795 Rep Power: 38	Here is the link to the WSJ: (Long , but well worth the read) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...LEFTTopStories