Internet Explorer Security Options, Part 3

Because Web browsing provides so many ways for malicious users to attack your workstations and internal network, it pays to make sure your users aren’t exposing your systems to risk while they browse the Web. In Part 1 and Part 2, I described security zones and settings in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 5.0. In Part 3, I'll show you the IE security settings that let you control cookies and file downloads.

Watch Out for the Cookie Monster!
One security risk in Web browsing that gets a lot of attention is cookies—text files that Web servers leave on your computer to remember you between visits. Web browsing began as a simple, modeless activity where a user requested one static Web page after another. Back then, Web servers didn't need to keep track of connection information. As the Internet evolved, however, Web servers had to support e-commerce and other applications requiring user-server interactions, so the industry designed cookies. (Originally, the word "cookie" was an allusion to fortune cookie, a UNIX program that outputs a different message, or fortune, each time it's used.) . . .