Cookies & log files

Cookies & Log Files
A Presentation By : Daryll Castelino

CONTENTS :
COOKIES :
 A Brief Overview
 Privacy
 Limitations
 Types
 Uses

A Brief Overview
 A small piece of data stored in a text file.
 Stores a single piece of data under a unique
id name.
 Stored in browser directory on your Hard Disk.
 Customizes webpages according to the user.
 Saves precious time.
 Browser dependent.
 Enhances browsing experience.

Privacy
Cookies can only be read by the site that
created them, or a site 'underneath'
the site that created them. This
prevents other websites from stealing
cookies.

Cookies
Sessions
Persistent First-Party
Third-Party

Session Cookie :
 Temporary.
 Deleted as soon as browser is closed.
 More secure and more reliable.
 Store items for short period of time.
 Mainly used to store items in shopping cart
on your e-commerce websites

Persistent Cookie :
 Permanent till some extent.
 Longer life compared to session cookies.
 Has an expiration date.
 Life can range from a few days to several
years

First – Party Cookie :
 Cookies of the site you’re currently visiting.
 Allowed by default on all browsers.
Third – Party Cookie :
 Cookies other than first-party cookies.
 Generates custom ads on your current webpage.
 Tracks your surfing habits.

On Internet Explorer :
Program files Internet Explorer Cookies.txt
On Netscape Navigator :
Program files Netscape Navigator Cookies.txt
On Opera Mini :
Program files Opera Mini Cookies.dat

Limitations
The cookie specification introduced by Netscape
also places limits on cookies. These limits are:
– 310 total cookies.
– 4 kilobytes per cookie
– 20 cookies per server or domain.

Uses
 On e-commerce websites.
 Login details on user demand.
 Preferred language selection.
 Recently viewed stock quotes.

Security Issues
 Network Eavesdropping.
 Poor encryption.
 DNS cache poisoning.

Log Files
 Records events or software runs.
 Creates audit trials which helps to diagnose
certain problems
 Essentially used on server applications.
 Records requests by client to server.
 Helps in recovering from transaction failures.
 Generally stored on disks and are frequently
backed-up.
 Much briefer than cookies.

< Syntax >
 [start_transaction,T]
 [write_item,T,X,old_value,new_value]
 [read_item,T,X]
 [commit,T]
 [abort,T]

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