- Cookies are not, unfortunately, the treats made of dough. They are, in fact, small text files, usually one-line long, which store relevant + Cookies are not, unfortunately, the treats made of dough. They are, in fact, small text files, stored in binary, usually one-line long, which store relevant information about websites visited by a computer. This might include a selected language, or ad preferences. Some websites even use - cookies to store passwords that are set to ‘remember’. Thus cookies need a lot of security and the id of each one must be unfathomably - difficult to find without permission so that hackers cannot find someone’s cookie. Cookies are stored on the computer, as opposed to - the website. Whenever you visit a browser, the browser accesses the relevant cookie and your information is there. Also, whenever a - website uses cookies, they must announce the fact and give an option to refuse them, for data privacy/security reasons. + cookies to store passwords that are set to ‘remember’. Thus, cookies need strong security and the ID of each one must be unfathomably + difficult to find without permission, to reduce the risk of hacking. Cookies are stored on the computer, as opposed to the website. + Because both HTTP and HTTPS don't transmit user data, none of the websites you visit know who you are. Therefore, whenever you + visit a webpage, it reads the cookies it stored on your computer last time you visited it, in order to find out information like your email address. + Many people are against cookies, due to privacy concerns; under new GDPR regulations, all end users in Europe must now be notified of + cookie use on each website they visit (if the website uses cookies). Many sites also give an option to refuse cookies.
diff --git a/computer-science-blog/pages/https.html b/computer-science-blog/pages/https.html index 0c8afb4..ff78c45 100644 --- a/computer-science-blog/pages/https.html +++ b/computer-science-blog/pages/https.html @@ -1,7 +1,8 @@- HTTPS is the secure hypertext transfer protocol, which means that it is a variation on the HTTP protocol - except it uses a secure socket layer - (SSL), which is an encryption protocol invoked by an HTTPS request. SSL is essentially the usage of ‘digital passports’, and it functions by - ‘hopping onto’ TCP protocols. It does not resend ‘lost’ packets or ‘miscommunicated' data, because this increases security. + HTTPS is the 'Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure', which means that it is a variation on the HTTP protocol - except it uses a secure socket layer + (SSL) - an encryption protocol invoked by an HTTPS request, that enables authentication and encryption on the webpage being visited. SSL is + essentially the usage of ‘digital passports’, and it functions by ‘hopping onto’ TCP protocols. It does not resend ‘lost’ packets or + ‘miscommunicated' data, because this increases security.