A way to transmit a clients identification across an array of independent client/server events is by using Cookies. Cookies are stored in your computer in a form of a text file which contains the information on the sessions with the recently visited website. There are seven type of information included in the cookie, and this includes the server and the unique identification that represents each session.
The cookies are exchanged on each activity so that the server is able to identify which of their many clients they are dealing with at the moment. Cookies makes the client feel as if they are the only one being served by the server, when in fact they are dealing with a lot of other clients at the same time.
The exchange of cookies between the client and the server are private, but there are loopholes that can be misused called the third-party cookie. The browser does not allow other servers to see what other cookies are available in the computer. Even if the browser protects the cookies from being viewed by other servers, there are alternative ways to get through this privacy enforcement.
A lot of websites has advertisements in them, and these advertisements are allowed to place cookies in your computer as a third party between the server and the client. As these cookies are built up, servers are able to observe your surfing patterns and direct to you advertisement that are associated with it.
Updated browsers are able to let the user control the cookie exchange that is usually going on without us knowing. You could turn it off completely, only prevent third party cookies, or just let the browser accept all cookie exchange automatically.
If it is turned off completely, banking online would not be possible. It would also be quite annoying as the browser would have to ask the users each time there is going to be an exchange.
The best solution is to just let the browser block out all third party cookies.
To digitally encrypt information, is to convert the information into something that cannot be comprehended anymore in order to maintain secrecy. Passwords are kept in the form of cipher text which was encrypted from its previous cleartext/plaintext form.
This is done in order to avoid the accessibility of private information and transform it into a more secure format. In order to retrieve the encrypted information in its plaintext form, we would first need to decrypt the cipher text. To decrypt the information is to reverse the encryption process so that the information would go back to its former condition.
Encrypting a message is to go from the left to the right and to decrypt is the other way around. In order to encrypt the information, the binary form of the information is added with a key that is known only by the receiver and the sender. A cipher text will then be produced and when the information is stored and vulnerable to snooping, the information would not be understandable.
A public key cryptosystem is a key that is published publicly-for instance at a website- so that the receiver is able to encrypt a cipher text message using the key provided. Of course, the receiver would be only one who could decrypt the message.
Snyder, L. (2008). Shhh, Itīs a Secret. In: Fluency With Information Technology: skills, concepts & capabilities. 3rd ed. United States of America: Pearson Education. p384-392.
Back to top Previous Page Next Page
