On Sunday 29 May 2005 20:23, Ted Harding wrote:
Hi Folks,
This may be a falsely started hare.
However, while browsing with Google, I suddenly got a pop-up which informed me that a "scan" had revealed that my machine had a cookie stored which would allow "tracking", i.e. spyware which could transmit information from my machine.
It then invited me to download a free scanner to cure the problem.
I have more than a suspicion that this cure might turn out to be worse than the alleged disease, but I'd be interested to see other people's comments!
Best wishes to all, Ted.
A "tracker cookie" is simply a cookie placed in your web-browser's cookie store (technically known as a cookie jar - yes really). It's what sites such as Amazon use to know who you are when you next visit the site.
Cookies are often mentioned by tinfoil hat types as some kind of malevolent thing that invades your privacy, but that's a load of cobblers. Cookies can only be read by the site that placed them in the cookie jar (unless you have a defective browser).
As for what would happen if you clicked the link - nothing on Linux most likely - but if you're running BillyWare you'll probably end up with the latest version of adware du jour.
Matt