I could have said that the IE8 privacy function is a lie or a joke but I happen to like the word oxymoron. In my preliminary tests I was acting as if my life and future depended on my online privacy and didn’t bother doing a comparison. I found my surfing history in cache memory, that Ccleaner didn’t wipe the cache memory information and that there was a hidden system file called PrivacIE (pronounce that “Priv A C”) which contained a hashed index.dat file which was untouchable. Not a bad find for a quick survey. I did a preliminary test against Firefox 3 automatically wiping all privacy data on closing and found a few lingering cookies which Ccleaner seemed to wipe out but no cache memory of the sites I visited.
I sort of find a hashed index.dat file (in a folder called PrivacIE) and a record of my surfing history in cache memory an insulting and direct compromise of the promise of real internet privacy.
If anyone cares about the method, I’ll do a post on it.
Tags: Add new tag, Computer Science, Computers, cookies, Firefox, hacking, IE8, IE8 Beta, IE8 Privacy, Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Porn, spyware, Trojans, Windows XP
Tickling the Tiger's Tail 
September 22, 2008 at 11:43 am |
You the man! This is exactly the problem with these “features”: they provide a false sense of security. If you search through your registry – http://cogipas.com/hard_drive_files/registry_tracks_1.html – you may also find lots of similar goodies. More basic info at http://cogipas.com/hard_drive_files/basics.html for those that are not as adanced as our friend here.
October 10, 2008 at 10:10 pm |
Interesting.
Thank you to post your findings for further study
October 11, 2008 at 1:56 pm |
Thanks for the comments. cogipas.com is certainly worth a visit for those new to the concept of Internet privacy and who would like to avoid embarrassment or jail.
As to admsupport, You seem to be way ahead of me in privacy concepts.