It seems that almost every day there is a piece in the news or there is an expert on television speaking about the dangers of the internet. There is no doubt that there are malicious internet users out there and scams but most people protect themselves with software and hardware. However, is it right to put all of your trust in software or additional software add-ons? Recent investigations into the security of web browsers would suggest that some of these defences aren’t as strong and robust as they should or need to be.
Private browsing is the name given to one of the latest additions many popular browsers have already started to incorporate. The premise of private browsing is to clear the browser of any personal information or information that has been stored in the browsers cache.
Modern browsers have evolved and been developed to provide the best user experience possible, one of the ways in which they do this is to store data based on browser activity and download activity. Most will store information relating to what was entered in forms, what was searched for as well as cookies which store preferences for websites that have been visited. These undoubtedly do offer a better user experience but they can leave the browser vulnerable and this is why private browsing was developed.
Recent studies by leading web security experts have found however, that private browsing may not be as private as many users believe it to be. With many people using third party add-ons with their browsers these days these add-ons can actually compromise the effectiveness of the private browsing functionality. There were also conflicts found when those with private browsing enabled in their browser visited secure sites, in some cases personal data was found to literally ‘leak out’ of the browser.
This information is not to say that you should never complete a form or perform a search in a search engine online. There are other steps you can take to ensure that your browsing is kept as private as possible, and of course, if you are ever using a public or shared computer it is advised that you take a much more diligent view. It can be quite scary to re-visit a web page and find all of your details already filled in and if it can happen at home it can happen in a library or internet cafe.
Staying safe online is now a prerequisite for anyone using the Internet, be vigilant and take care who you give your personal information to, don’t rely one hundred percent on software and try and ensure you are doing everything you can to protect your personal data.
For computer forensics, data recovery andforensics analysis try CY4OR.
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Wed, Sep 1, 2010
PC Security