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What are browser cookies and how they work

Hacking Cookies - Latest Hacking News

INTRODUCTION.
Most internet users are familiar with the term Cookie because we see it pop up in most websites but do we know the purpose it serves.

Let us start with what it is, a cookie ( also known as browser cookie, internet cookie, web cookie or HTTP cookie) is small piece of data that websites store on your disk in the form of a text file.Cookies allow websites to store specific information helpful to remember each visitor uniquely.

What do browser cookies do.
The purpose of the computer cookie is to help the website track of your visits and activity and is not a bad thing.A good example are the online retailers to keep track of the items in user's shopping cart as they explore the site, without the cookies the shopping cart would reset to zero with every click.

A website also uses the cookies to store information about you recent visits or record you login information which i do not really recommend from a security perspective

Types of browser cookies.

Session cookie
Session cookies comes in handy when one is navigating the web and does not have to be treated as a new visitor. The session cookie makes it possible  foe the website to keep track of the user information such as shopping cart account details and other preferences are not lost during navigation. A session cookie is stored temporary and is usually deleted on the closure of the browser.

Persistent Cookie
Also known as permanent cookie also facilitates websites to track user settings and information when they visit the same website in the future and it is not deleted upon closure of the browser. They are used to collect identifying information about the user and can be used to authenticate a user to the same websites upon revisits without having to log in again

Secure cookie
It is also known as HTTPOnly Cookie, is type of cookie that only works with HTTP/HTTPS and does not work with scripting languages like Javascript.Since it is only storing information and is used fro hypertext transfer protocols request and data over the internet , this now makes it hard for exploit's and hacks to be made through it , to add also cross-site scripting(XSS) can not happen because it prevents it from happening.


Third-party Cookie
Third -party Cookie are those cookies that originate from a website other than the one you are using which are used by advertisers or ad servers to track user behavior , and generate virtual user profiles.If you have ever seen an ad that is exactly matched to you recent web activity, fill the gaps, it is no coincidence.

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