Significance

• The risk of identity theft makes it important to gain insight on how tracking cookies attempt to gain information about you. Tracking cookies secretly install on your computer without your consent and tell a company what you are doing online so they can send you pop-ups based on the collected information. They secretly install when visiting various sites that for example contain lots of advertisements (such as warez and torrent sites). While tracking cookies are not considered the most dangerous threat on the Internet, they should still be dealt with accordingly.
  
  

Identification

• Check your desktop for any changes and additional icons. Tracking cookies sometimes install additional links to porn and gambling sites and other advertising companies. Check your web browser settings when you use the Internet. If you are experiencing a large number of pop-up advertisements all of a sudden, your computer could be infested with tracking cookies. If you are also suddenly being redirected to advertisement websites, your computer likely is infected with tracking cookies and possibly additional spyware.
  
  

Types

• Fastclick, which is owned by valueclickmedia.com, is one of the most common tracking cookies that monitors your Internet searches and sends the information to third-party advertisers. While valueclickmedia.com provides advertisement solutions, it also uses Fastclick to track personal information. Ad.yieldmanager is another common tracking cookie that installs on your computer and attempts to collect personal information, which can be retrieved by the parent company. Tacoda is another tracking cookie, but much like the other two, it tracks browsing activity with installed applications and monitors your browsing activity.
  
  

Solution

• Delete your browser cache and history frequently to remove traces of personal information. Make sure that your pop-up blocker is running on your web browser and configured to block "third-party cookies." Run frequent virus and spyware scans and delete traced cookies. If you do not have an antivirus program, consider AVG Antivirus (see Resources), which is free and includes a spyware removal tool. Update your computer where possible so that you have the latest security updates to protect your computer from tracking cookies.
  
  

Warning

• Do not type in personal information on the web if you suspect that your computer is infested with tracking cookies. Do not use the Internet if you do not have an antivirus program installed and running on your computer. If you do not know how to manually remove tracking cookies, do not attempt to do so, because you risk damaging your computer. Instead run automatic tools that can remove them safely without damaging system processes.