What is a cookie?
Web cookies, browser cookies, HTTP cookies, first-party and third-party cookies, internet cookies, zombie cookies, and even supercookies are small blocks of data used to identify your computer during online surfing.
They are created and sent to your PC from a web server when you visit a new website. Your browser saves the cookie and then pings it back to that server when you return. That’s how servers track and save data about your web sessions to manage your online experience.
Why is it called a cookie?
Cookies were first introduced in the mid-1990s. The term was derived from the fortune cookie, which is a cookie with a piece of paper inside.
Is cookie a file?
Yes, usually it is about a small text file that can contain different bits of data like usernames, passwords, IPs, time spent on a webpage, links you might have clicked on, user settings, and information entered via web forms.
What types of cookies are there?
There are many different cookies. First-party cookies are the classics: they arrive at your browser to help optimize your subsequent visits to a specific web server. Without them, you’d need to re-enter your credentials each time you visit a page and your shopping cart purchases would be erased if you close the tab by accident. Third-party cookies are not that useful for you. They are an external piece of code loaded on the website you are browsing by advertisers and data harvesters. They help them to manipulate your attention. Zombie cookies are stored outside the usual browser location and are reborn each time you delete them.
Are cookies dangerous?
Cookies aren’t harmful by nature, they can’t infect your PC with malware. But cyber-attackers can target cookies to data-mine your browsing history.