Linux and Spywares

[Robin Laing]

Matthew Miller wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 15, 2005 at 12:45:54AM +0530, Rajev Mhasawade wrote:
> 
>>Hi all,
>>Well after being criticised for my irrelavant question i need help this time! :)
>>How do i keep off 'spies' from Linux?I visit this site
>>(indiafm.com)regularly which downloads a cookie (or something which is
>>identified as 'DirectHit' by Spybot) and identified as 'medium threat'
>>by Spybot.
> 
> 
> You could try this to help block tracking cookies:
> 
> <https://update.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?category=Privacy%20and%20Security&id=82>
> 
> Calling cookies "medium threat" is pretty paranoid. (Of course, the security
> products you're purchasing have some incentive to make you think they're
> dealing with serious problems.) These cookies can't really do anything to
> you except link various web sites you might have visited together, which
> they could do *anyway* by comparing server logs.
> 
> Personally, I just make sure the "for originating web site only" box is
> checked in Firefox's Privacy/Cookies setting, and then I periodically go
> through the list and delete and block the ones from sites I don't recognize.
> 
> 

I find cookies to be a privacy issue more than a security issue.  I 
don't like being tracked and cookies make it much easier for XYZ 
company to trace my actions.  If some advertising firm is using third 
party cookies, then they can cross site track me.

I have to accept or refuse each cookie and it is surprising the number 
of third site cookies I come across.  They go into my don't accept 
list.  There are also those sites that have a cookie for every icon on 
their home page.  These quickly endue in my don't accept bin.

I also select the "session only" option so I don't have the cookies if 
I restart Mozilla.  And the odd time I delete my cookie file.  I used 
to delete my cookie file each time I rebooted in Windows and each time 
I logged in before Mozilla had the cookie manager.

-- 
Robin Laing