When you are using your web browser, either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, each time that you visit a webpage your computer creates a temporary file of the images and information located there. When you use your Back button to revisit pages that you have seen previously, your browser can check with the webpage to see if any changes have been made. If the page is different than the last time you opened it, the browser will contact the site again and refresh the page. If there haven’t been any changes, the browser will return you to the previously visited page that it has stored as a temporary file.

These temporary files are the computer’s cache, that is, the computer’s collection of similar file types that are stored in a location that is, at least superficially, hidden to the user. This means that your computer stores a collection of web pages that you have visited and keeps them somewhere on your computer that is not immediately obvious to you.

While cache files are ‘temporary’ they are actually stored on your computer until you manually remove them. While they make return trips to Web sites faster, some people consider this a security, or at least a privacy risk, since they can be viewed even when you are offline. This means that it is possible for someone else to look at your cache files and monitor your Internet use.

If a lot of temporary files reside on your computer, as there likely are if you frequently surf the net, a large cache folder will slow down your computer, as it has to search to find the requested page. Additionally, a large cache folder takes up valuable space on your hard drive that could be used for other programs and processes.

Sometimes a glut of cached temporary files can cause browser and computer errors. This happens most often when there have been changes to web pages and the temporary files are not updated and interfere with the browser refreshing the data. In this case, you will see a ‘page cannot be displayed error’. Clearing your temporary files can remove these problems and errors.

To clear cache files on Internet Explorer, open your Tools menu and then select Internet Options. In this menu, select the Temporary Internet Settings tab and select ‘delete cookies and files’. If you use a Mozilla browser, got to your Tools menu, then choose Options, then select Advanced Files and then Clear Cache. Easy.

Once done, this will protect your privacy and help to optimize your computer’s performance. Software programs are also available online that will manage your temporary files and maintain pre-set preferences that you can customize to suit your use.

URL, pronounced “earl,” is the abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator, which refers to a website or document’s address on the web. Within the URL there is information about the protocol type, the resource name and the domain name where the particular data is located. Basically, URLs are website and resource online addresses.

When you visit a website a record of the URL is saved in the address bar. If you go to your address bar, you can delete the address of this web page that you are currently reading and enter a random letter of the alphabet. You will see a list of website addresses drop down, listed by URL, that begin with that letter. For reasons of privacy and security, you might not want other users of your computer to see the websites that you have visited. To prevent this from happening, you can delete the URL history from your system.

In a few simple steps you can remove your URL browsing history. Using a Windows operating system, go to your Start menu, then select My computer, then Control Panel, then Internet Options. Select the tab titled General, then Browsing History, and then Delete.

If you use a Mozilla Firefox browser it is even easier to clear your URL history, and it is easy to remove individual entries without deleting the entire contents. Open either the list that drops down from the address bar or the history sidebar list. Select and highlight the URL that you want to remove and press Shift and Delete at the same time. That’s it.

When URLs are recorded in your address bar, your computer makes a corresponding registry key in the registry. So, even if you remove the history from your address bar, the information is still stored on your computer and can still be accessed. To remove your URL history from the registry a manual edit is required. Adjusting your registry is a potentially dangerous task and mistakes could mean that you have to start from scratch and reinstall your operating system. Now that you’ve been warned, and since you have already created a back up of your registry settings in case of emergency, you can go ahead and edit the registry if you still want to.

Open your Start menu and then choose Run. In the Search bar, type regedit and press Enter. The Windows registry will open and you should look for the registry key that corresponds to your browser. If you use Internet Explorer the registry key will read:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER → Software → Microsoft → Internet Explorer.

Next, select TypedUrls and you will see a list of all your saved URLs. The entry at the top of the list, called Default should not be removed, but you can delete the rest of the history.

We often hear about the risks of potential threats to our security that are involved with using the Internet and taking care of our daily errands online. There is no doubt that it is a major convenience to be able to pay bills, balance bank accounts and do our shopping online, but there are also responsibilities that accompany the ease of modern life.

Whenever we use the Internet, our computer stores bits of information about every exchange:

• Instant messaging conversations
• Credit card information
• Internet browsing history

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The risks come in when other people and other computers are able to access our computers and, as a result, our personal and sensitive information. Since we still want the pleasure of doing business online, we must follow a number of steps to protect our privacy and our behaviors online.

One important first step is to keep your passwords and your codes private. If your personal information, like your birth date, address and telephone number are all included on your banking profile, then to use any of this information for your password would be making your code pretty easy to crack. Choose unrelated passwords that include letters and numbers that are difficult to associate.

When you are browsing on the Internet, most websites put ‘cookies’ on your computer, that is, a little data file that stores your personal information and preferences. Cookies are intended to ease our use of websites by saving time and remembering our personal information so that we don’t have to repeatedly enter it each time we visit. But the information stored in cookies also offers a package of your sensitive data for potential hackers, spammers and statistics gatherers. It is a good idea to log off of all sites that you sign in to and periodically clear your cookies and delete your web browsing history so that personal information is not available after you have logged off and left the site.

An Internet security software program that includes a good firewall can guard against the biggest online threats to your privacy such as identity theft and malware that tracks and saves your personal browsing habits and makes you a target for adware and targeted exploitation. If you visit some websites and online forums for public use, and others for personal reasons, like banking, it is advisable to use a different email address that isn’t connected to your name or business for publicly accessible information in order to protect your privacy.

A number of computer security software programs that focus on privacy are also available. Internet privacy scans are specifically targeted to monitor and delete cookies that websites put on your computer, permanently remove your browsing history and any stored website addresses, clear all record of media downloads and IM communiqués, and delete any inputted passwords, credit card numbers or other secure information.

 A cookie, also referred to as an http cookie or a web cookie, is a small bit of data that is deposited on a user’s computer when visiting a web site. These cookies allow the site to remember the user and any personal information that is input while on the site, such as passwords and account numbers. By placing the cookie on your computer, the next time that you visit the site, it can access the stored information and ‘remember’ you and your data, saving you from re-entering identifying information.

In many cases, cookies are helpful and timesaving for users since they remember personal information such as names, addresses and other billing information so that you don’t have to re-enter the same data every time you shop online. In addition, they allow you to instead save items in online shopping carts.

However, there are also drawbacks to cookies. Once the data is stored on your computer it is retrievable by hackers online if they are able to access your computer. If you save all your account and password information, then all a hacker has to do is gain access to your computer and they can access all your sensitive information. Another possible threat is online, and the risk that inscrutable websites collect your personal information for reasons like identity or credit theft, adware solicitation or tracking your Internet use.

While some sites require that you have cookies enabled to use them, there is always the option to turn them off. Depending on your browser there are different steps to follow. For Internet Explorer, go in to your Tools menu and chose Internet Options. Next, select the Security/Privacy tab then the Custom Level tab. Then, find the Cookies label and select Disable to turn cookies off altogether or Prompt if you would like to be asked for explicit permission for each site that uses cookies. If you select restricted allowance of cookies then each time a site tries to access your computer it will be restricted while you are offered an explanation of the site and the information and can choose to accept or reject it. However, some sites do require cookies and refusing them will mean that you can’t use the site.

There are also a number of privacy software programs that are designed to help you monitor and deal with threats to your security, such as cookies. In addition to other risks, like cached files and browsing histories, that can be used to monitor your online behavior and preferences, privacy scans can root out and eliminate all types of spyware to enhance your online privacy and Internet security.

 A privacy scan is a computer software program that is designed to search your computer for a number of things that decrease your security and make you vulnerable to other people or companies gaining access to your personal information. There are a number of means by which your data can be accessed by others, and a privacy scan is intended to search your computer for information of this kind, check your vulnerability and erase any information that might be used against you.

When you use the Internet, every website you look at, message you send, media unit you download or purchase you make is recorded on your computer. If your computer is used by others, or could be accessed by others, then it makes sense that there might be information on it that you would prefer stay private. Whether business or personal, there are times when, and people with whom, we might not choose to divulge all of our Internet habits, and a privacy scan can help.

Privacy scans are able to identify and locate many sorts of threats to personal privacy including cached files that have been downloaded from the Internet, so that your personal use stays personal. Scans remove the complication and hassle of manually deleting your Internet browsing history so that there is no trace left behind on your computer for anyone else to find. This way, there is no history of the sites you visit left on your system once you delete them.

If you download media files, privacy scans are also able to remove them so that they don’t clutter up your computer once you’ve watched them and so that there is no trace of them remaining.

Another much talked about source in computer vulnerability are cookies. Internet cookies are small pieces of data that are put on your computer by websites that you visit so that, after you have left the site, your personal information remains available. The intention of cookies is to ease use of sites for the user, by keeping record of personal preferences, contact information and passwords, however, the drawback is the possibility that this sensitive information, once stored, might be vulnerable to third party viewing. If hackers, thieves, marketers or spies are able to gain access to your information you are at increased risk of identity theft, credit theft, adware, spyware, spamming and so on. Privacy scans are equipped to detect and isolate cookies so that you can easily remove them from your computer. Another option with cookies is to adjust your computer settings to resist cookies, or ask permission before accepting them, although many websites require cookies in order to be accessed.

Privacy scans are good options for those who are concerned about the remnants of personal Internet use remaining on their computers as well as for those concerned about the vulnerability to theft and exploitation caused by sensitive data left on your computer. Temporary Internet files, cache files and incomplete installs and uninstalls all clutter your computer and can cause your system to slow down, as well as compromise your privacy. Privacy scans are effective ways to rid your system of numerous kinds of clutter and risk, in one simple process.

 Have you ever entered your personal information on a website, for example to make a purchase or fill out a form, and wondered if your information was secure? If you use your computer for shopping, banking or accounting, you have most likely given your Internet security some thought. Internet security refers to the level of privacy you maintain while online and the ability of others to access your personal information. On one hand, it is extremely convenient to balance your virtual checkbook from the comfort of your home, yet there are also drawbacks to putting your personal information online.

Everything that you do online on your computer, every Internet search, media download and instant messaging conversation is stored on your computer. While this might not seem to be a problem at first glance, there are a few implications worth thinking about. All the sensitive information that hangs around on your computer makes you vulnerable to a potentially devastating violation of privacy.

Whether you suffer a severe invasion like identity or credit theft by an online hacker, or only experience a simple slip that exposes private banking or business information to a colleague, boss or spouse, the personal material left on your computer can put you in dangerous or awkward situations, and a privacy scan can help.

One specific risk posed to your Internet security arrives on your computer in the form of a ‘cookie’. Cookies are small pieces of information, sent by the website you are visiting to your computer. Most often the intention of cookies is to store information about you or your preferences on websites. These cookies remain, even after you end your contact with the site, so that the next time you visit, all information will be there.

The intention behind the use of cookies is most often benign, even helpful to the user, as the stored information saves you from entering information, like mailing addresses, every time you visit a site. Yet, as with most things, there are occasions when cookies and stored user information are exploited and you and your computer are at risk. While cookies that store your selected purchases in a shopping basket at your favorite online store may be safe and convenient, there are other times when you might prefer a website not retain your personal data.

Cookies were intended only for the use of the website, though they have been vulnerable to exploitation. After a website retrieves your personal information it can be accessed or stolen for several purposes including credit or identity theft, gathering statistics and advertising, to name a few.

Privacy scans are a software technology that searches your computer for risks to your Internet security and maintains safe conditions to ensure your privacy. The scans will monitor the cookies that websites place on your system and delete them after you leave the websites so that your personal information isn’t easy for hackers to retrieve. Privacy scans will also: remove any saved Internet addresses or browser histories so that your Internet use remains private; clear cached files; and delete media downloads.