Flash cookies-Is your privacy in danger?

Discussion in 'privacy technology' started by steve161, May 29, 2008.

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  1. steve161

    steve161 Registered Member

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    Sorry for the overly dramatic title, I just finished reading the mbam/Evidence Eliminator thread. But I have been reading up on this and, apparently, flash that is allowed to run sets cookies in the adobe/macromedia folder under shared objects. I am using linux and can delete these cookies manually, and windows users can add this folder to their favorite cleaner program. But are there any good programs that do this by default? And what is the privacy risk of having these cookies? If you want to change the settings for these cookies, go here:

    http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

    There is also an experimental firefox addon that addresses this:

    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6623

    No specific question, just looking for comments, observations, critism, or haiku's .
     
  2. Rmus

    Rmus Exploit Analyst

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    One of the nice side features of Deep Freeze, I discovered while evaluating it, is:

    since anything written to C:\ will be discarded on reboot, this takes care of the situation you describe, and includes all temp directory files, Registry MRUs, etc, therefore, negates the need for any cleaner program.


    ----
    rich
     
  3. SteveTX

    SteveTX Registered Member

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    You asked if any programs do this by default...

    xB Browser removes flash cookies without issue.
     
  4. faterider

    faterider Registered Member

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    CCleaner is cleaning them by default.
     
  5. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    The EQS (HIPS) can be configured to block them with the latest Alcyon's RuleSets.

    Last i read he was still working to make sure they handle those as expected.
     
  6. acr1965

    acr1965 Registered Member

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  7. SteveTX

    SteveTX Registered Member

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    I haven't tried it, but it looks interesting. I know about the flash objects and the DOM cookies, but I'm wondering what the long term ebay tracking means. any ideas?
     
  8. SafetyFirst

    SafetyFirst Registered Member

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    I've just installed it and, while other users' reviews say it found thousands of flash cookies on their systems, it shows no flash cookies at all on my PC...

    Is there anything specific I should do?
     
  9. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Where is this option in CCleaner? Thanks
     
  10. steve161

    steve161 Registered Member

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    It may be that you have your flash player set up to not store any information on your system. On my system (linux) the cookies are stored in the Macromedia folder under shared objects. If you right click on a flash object or follow the link in the original post, you can see what your settings are.
     
  11. ErikAlbert

    ErikAlbert Registered Member

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    I installed it, just in case, but I doubt it is needed in a frozen system. It certainly didn't report anything.
    ~off topic comment removed....Bubba~
    How can such thing survive in a virtual system ? That is impossible.
    In a normal system everything is possible, that's why you need a strong security. :)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 9, 2008
  12. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Never mind. I got it.
     
  13. Firebytes

    Firebytes Registered Member

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    Care to share? I know I can add the files or folders to custom clean them but I do not see where I can just check a box for cleaning in CCleaner v2.08.588.
     
  14. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    I guess this one but not sure 100%. I tried it and it removed them.
     

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  15. Firebytes

    Firebytes Registered Member

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    I don't have that box. Maybe because I just have the Flash Player plugin for Firefox?
     

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  16. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    I am not sure. I have both falsh , IE n non-IE. I use Opera, no firefox. It deleted same content from IE n Opera.
     
  17. Firebytes

    Firebytes Registered Member

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    I tried installing the IE ActiveX version of Flash Player (Returnil protection on) and CCleaner then gives the option to clean it. It seems that although CCleaner detects the Firefox/Opera Flash Plugin in it's Uninstall section it doesn't detect it as an option for cleaning.
     
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