Privacy Practices of Browser Agents

This paper presents a systematic evaluation of the privacy behaviors and attributes of eight recent, popular browser agents. Browser agents are software that automate Web browsing using large language models and ancillary tooling. However, the automated capabilities that make browser agents...

CVE-2024-27852

A privacy issue was addressed with improved client ID handling for alternative app marketplaces. This issue is fixed in iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5. A maliciously crafted webpage may be able to distribute a script that tracks users on other webpages...

Google's New Tracking Protection in Chrome Blocks Third-Party Cookies

Google on Thursday announced that it will start testing a new feature called "Tracking Protection" starting January 4, 2024, to 1% of Chrome users as part of its efforts to deprecate third-party cookies in the web browser. The setting is designed to limit "cross-site tracking by restricting websi...

New Unpatched Apple Safari Browser Bug Allows Cross-Site User Tracking

A software bug introduced in Apple Safari 15's implementation of the IndexedDB API could be abused by a malicious website to track users' online activity in the web browser and worse, even reveal their identity. The vulnerability, dubbed IndexedDB Leaks, was disclosed by fraud protection software...

What are computer cookies?

We all know cookies as tasty baked treats that we love to eat, but computer cookies are quite different. Although they’re most popularly known as just "cookies", they may be referred to as browser cookies, Internet cookies, HTTP cookies, web cookies, computer cookies, or digital cookies. What are...

How to clear cookies

Until the information age, cookies were only known as a tasty but unhealthy snack that some people enjoyed, and others avoided. HTTP cookies, also known as computer, browser, or Internet cookies, are similarly divisive. Although some people like the more personalized browsing experience created b...

Mozilla Patches Bugs in Firefox, Now Blocks Cross-Site Cookie Tracking

The Mozilla Foundation has released its latest version of the Firefox browser, which comes with new privacy protections to squash cross-site cookie tracking, as well as a slew of security vulnerability fixes. Firefox 86, released on Tuesday, includes what it touts as a privacy-bolstering feature...

Online Trackers Increasingly Switching to Invasive CNAME Cloaking Technique

With browser makers steadily clamping down on third-party tracking, advertising technology companies are increasingly embracing a DNS technique to evade such defenses, thereby posing a threat to web security and privacy. Called CNAME Cloaking, the practice of blurring the distinction between...

Cookies, Single Sign-On, and You

What's the problem? As part of a concerted effort to protect end user privacy and increase browser security, major web browsers have been making changes to their treatment of 3rd party cookies. These changes are designed to cripple ad targeting services that track user behavior online and rely on...

Kaspersky Antivirus Flaw Exposed Users to Cross-Site Tracking Online

In this digital era, the success of almost every marketing, advertising, and analytics company drives through tracking users across the Internet to identify them and learn their interests to provide targeted ads. Most of these solutions rely on 3rd-party cookies, a cookie set on a domain other th...

Kaspersky Antivirus Flaw Exposed Users to Cross-Site Tracking Online

In this digital era, the success of almost every marketing, advertising, and analytics company drives through tracking users across the Internet to identify them and learn their interests to provide targeted ads. Most of these solutions rely on 3rd-party cookies, a cookie set on a domain other th...

Google Chrome to Introduce Improved Cookie Controls Against Online Tracking

At the company's I/O 2019 developer conference, Google has announced its plan to introduce two new privacy and security-oriented features in the upcoming versions of its Chrome web browser. In an attempt to allow users to block online tracking, Google has announced two new features—Improved...

Bucking the Norm, Mozilla to Block Tracking Cookies in Firefox

Web tracking has long been in the cross-hairs of privacy advocates, who say that marketers know entirely too much about individuals’ online activities. And to add insult to injury, the ubiquitous cookie system used to enable tracking also presents potential security threats, including cross-site...

Spring Framework Cross-Site Tracking Vulnerability

Pivotal Spring Framework is the United States Pivotal Software's set of open source Java, Java EE application framework. The framework helps developers build high-quality applications . A security vulnerability exists in Pivotal Spring Framework versions 5.0.x prior to 5.0.7, 4.3.x prior to 4.3.1...