Cookies sound sweet, but they can be risky

USA TODAY ran a story this week with the above title. Catchy for the typical reader, but has so much more meaning when you're an IT manager. For the uninitiated, everywhere you go on the Internet, you leave behind small footprints called cookies.

From the USA Today article:

Cookies track where you have gone online and are stored on your hard drive. The websites you visit tap into those cookies so they can tailor promotions to you or retrieve data such as your credit card information. Every site you visit also registers your numerical IP (Internet protocol) address and can track information associated with it. Your IP address contains information like your hometown, but not your name.

Cookies come in two types: first- and third-party. First-party cookies are kept only by the site you visit and any affiliated properties, such as the company's Facebook fan page. This information is not shared with other websites and is generally not considered worrisome. Third-party cookies are those shared across various websites; for example, if you click on certain ads or search for a car on sites that share such cookies, your information goes to a far larger audience.

USA Today does offer some advice to protect yourself when browsing the web:

•Check website privacy policies. Most sites state what information is gathered and how it is used. Some will let you opt in or opt out of the collection process. Check the policy especially if you plan to register on a site.

•Disable cookies. Onyour Web browser, you likely have an option to disable all cookies or those that apply to third-party uses. Disabling first-party cookies means websites won't likely have your credit card or password information stored anymore. Greve has disabled third-party cookies on her computer and "sleeps better at night" because of it, she says.

•Remove cookies regularly. You can set your browser to automatically clear your entire browsing history and cookies, or do it manually. But Greve says even though cookies are removed from the computer, "Once you put your information out, it's out there, and it's going to get to stores in one way, shape or form."

•Consider installing an "anonymizer." These services hide your IP address wherever you go, but Greve warns there have been "phishing" attacks — e-mails that try to get personal information — through some of these.

•Use a proxy server. These devices, which are intermediaries between networks, allow you to browse in private.

Of course that last recommendation is one I heartily endorse. Anyone managing a network should consider putting a proxy server to help protect the end-users browsing the web. In addition make sure that proxy server is up to date on its URL database, real time categorization, and malware scanning software.