What Are Cookies?

What Are Cookies and How do they work?

Cookies are files, typically text files which are stored on a user’s device. They are made to contain data specific to the user or website, and can be accessed either by a web server or the users device. Cookies cannot themselves harm your computer in any way. Cookie allow the web server to deliver a web page “suited” to the user, or the web page itself can contain a script which is reading the data in the cookie and so is able to carry information from one visit to the website to the next website.

Typically what this means is that cookies are used to remember logins and keep track of user settings on websites, this information might include the name of the site, particular products being viewed, pages visited, etc. Cookie can be used to track your movement on the Internet ONLY if a site is aware of the cookie and is designed to use the specific cookies. Because of their use in tracking online activity, many feel that this constitutes spyware. Most antispyware applications, including SUPERAntiSpyware, detect tracking cookie in one form or another.

Cookie are not blocked by SUPERAntiSpyware because they are required for most web functionality.  Cookie will come back every time you surf the web, and can be cleaned by running a Quick or Complete Scan.

Our Top 5 Mozilla Firefox Extension Picks For Better Web Security

Top 5 Mozilla Firefox Extension Picks For Better Web Security

Security and privacy are some of the major concerns when using the internet. One of the more popular Open Source internet browsers Mozilla Firefox allows users to add extensions to the browser adding new functionality. Here are our picks for the top 5 Firefox security and privacy extensions that you should install for safer browsing along side using your SUPERAntiSpyware software on your PC.

Click on each link and it will bring you to the Firefox Extension website where you can learn more about the extension and its creators. Most of these extensions are available on other popular browsers, such as Google Chrome or Opera so do not feel limited to only Mozilla Firefox!

1) uBlock Origin – A lightweight ad-blocker and anti-tracking extension that is efficient on memory and CPU footprint.

2) Privacy Badger – Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).  Privacy Badger is an anti-tracking extension that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from tracking where you go on the web. Privacy Badger Works great alongside uBlock Origin.

3) HTTPS Everywhere – Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and The Tor Project. HTTPS Everywhere ensures that you always connect to a website using a secure HTTPS connection if one is available. HTTPS is a form of encryption making your browsing much more secure.

4) DuckDuckGo Plus – DuckDuckGo is the search engine that doesn’t track you. This add-on makes DuckDuckGo your default search engine and includes some other useful features.

5) NoScript Security Suite – Preemptive approach to prevent security vulnerabilities out on the web. It allows JavaScript, Java and other executable content to run only from sites you trust, guarding your trusted sites against cross-site scripting attacks (XSS), cross-zone DNS rebinding / CSRF attacks (router hacking), and Clickjacking attempts.

Do you have any Mozilla Firefox extension recommendations? Feel free to leave a comment below!

SUPERAntiSpyware Team