What are cookies?

What are cookies?
When you browse the Internet,
information
about your computer may be
collected and
stored. This information might be
general
information about your computer
(such as IP
address, the domain you used to
connect
(e.g., .edu, .com, .net), and the
type of browser
you used). It might also be more
specific
information about your browsing
habits (such
as the last time you visited a
particular web
site or your personal preferences
for viewing
that site).
Cookies can be saved for varying
lengths of
time:
Session cookies - Session cookies
store
information only as long as you're
using the
browser; once you close the
browser, the
information is erased. The primary
purpose of
session cookies is to help with
navigation, such
as by indicating whether or not
you've already
visited a particular page and
retaining
information about your
preferences once you've
visited a page.
Persistent cookies - Persistent
cookies are
stored on your computer so that
your personal
preferences can be retained. In
most browsers,
you can adjust the length of time
that persistent
cookies are stored. It is because
of these
cookies that your email address
appears by
default when you open your
Yahoo! or Hotmail
email account, or your
personalized home page
appears when you visit your
favorite online
merchant. If an attacker gains
access to your
computer, he or she may be able
to gather
personal information about you
through these
files.
To increase your level of security,
consider
adjusting your privacy and
security settings to
block or limit cookies in your web
browser . To
make sure that other sites are not
collecting
personal information about you
without your
knowledge, choose to only allow
cookies for the
web site you are visiting; block or
limit cookies
from a third-party. If you are
using a public
computer, you should make sure
that cookies
are disabled to prevent other
people from
accessing or using your personal
information.