What is browsing cookies

Cookies are text files with small pieces of data — like a username and password — that are used to identify your computer as you use a computer network. Specific cookies known as HTTP cookies are used to identify specific users and improve your web browsing experience. Data stored in a cookie is created by the server upon your connection. This data is labeled with an ID unique to you and your computer.

When the cookie is exchanged between your computer and the network server, the server reads the ID and knows what information to specifically serve to you. Cookies generally function the same but have been applied to different use cases:. Commonly, this would be used for a login to computer database systems, such as a business internal network.

He recreated this concept for browsers when he helped an online shopping store fix their overloaded servers. The HTTP cookie is what we currently use to manage our online experiences. It is also what some malicious people can use to spy on your online activity and steal your personal info. Cookies are created to identify you when you visit a new website. These tell cookies where to be sent and what data to recall. The server only sends the cookie when it wants the web browser to save it.

If a user returns to that site in the future, the web browser returns that data to the web server in the form of a cookie. This is when your browser will send it back to the server to recall data from your previous sessions. To put it simply, cookies are a bit like getting a ticket for a coat check:. Websites use HTTP cookies to streamline your web experiences.

Making cookies an important a part of the internet experience. While this is mostly for your benefit, web developers get a lot out of this set-up as well. In turn, websites can personalize while saving money on server maintenance and storage costs. With a few variations, cookies in the cyber world come in two types: session and persistent. Session cookies are used only while navigating a website. They are stored in random access memory and are never written to the hard drive.

When the session ends, session cookies are automatically deleted. They also help the "back" button or third-party anonymizer plugins work. These plugins are designed for specific browsers to work and help maintain user privacy. Persistent cookies remain on a computer indefinitely, although many include an expiration date and are automatically removed when that date is reached.

Since the data in cookies doesn't change, cookies themselves aren't harmful. They can't infect computers with viruses or other malware. However, some cyberattacks can hijack cookies and enable access to your browsing sessions. The danger lies in their ability to track individuals' browsing histories. Some cookies may pack more of a threat than others depending on where they come from. First-party cookies are directly created by the website you are using. These are generally safer, as long as you are browsing reputable websites or ones that have not been compromised.

Third-party cookies are more troubling. They are generated by websites that are different from the web pages users are currently surfing, usually because they're linked to ads on that page.

Banning all cookies makes some websites difficult or impossible to navigate. However, a setting that controls or limits third-party and tracking cookies can help protect your privacy while still making it possible to shop online and carry out similar activities.

All rights reserved. Firefox is a trademark of Mozilla Foundation. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Alexa and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon. Microsoft and the Window logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U. The Android robot is reproduced or modified from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.

Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. How To. Security Center How To What are cookies? Written by a NortonLifeLock employee. Join today. Cancel anytime. Start Free Trial. Only the website that creates a cookie can read it, so other servers do not have access to your information.

Additionally, web servers can use only information that you provide or choices that you make while visiting the website as content in cookies. Webmasters have always been able to track access to their sites, but cookies make it easier to do so. In some cases, cookies come not from the site you're visiting, but from advertising companies that manage the banner ads for a set of sites such as DoubleClick. These advertising companies can develop detailed profiles of the people who select ads across their customers' sites.

Accepting a cookie does not give a server access to your computer or any of your personal information except for any information that you may have purposely given, as with online shopping. Also, it is not possible to execute code from a cookie, and not possible to use a cookie to deliver a virus. For privacy reasons, you may wish to view the cookies currently stored in your browser or control which sites you accept cookies from.

You may also decide how long they may be stored and used. Most modern browsers offer the ability to control cookie settings; consult your browser's help files, and see:. This is document agwm in the Knowledge Base.