Browser Security Policy - Windows - HP 800 User Manual

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Browser Security Policy – Windows
Item
Cookies
Cache
Scripts
Table B-1. Browser Vulnerabilities
B-4
Browser Security Policy – Windows
The Browser security policy tests verify that any endpoint attempting to
connect to your system meets your specified security requirements. Browser
vulnerabilities are related to cookies, caches, and scripts (JavaScript, Java,
and Active scripting / ActiveX). You can specify generally what level of security
to enforce (High, Medium, Medium-low, or Low) or you can specify exactly
what feature to allow or disallow. Installing the most recent version of your
browser also helps protect your system against exploits targeting the latest
vulnerabilities. table B-1 provides more information about types of browser
vulnerabilities:
Description
Cookies are text files created by Web sites and stored on your computer.
They contain user-specific information—information about what Web
pages you visited, information you filled out in online forms, and your
preferences for a particular Web site. Cookies are good when they
enhance your Web experience (online shopping carts work because of
cookies) and can be bad if unencrypted information is stored in them,
which could be misused if an attacker gains access to them.
The following links provide detailed information about cookies:
http://www.pcworldmalta.com/archive/iss57/
•
cookies.htm
http://www.cookiecentral.com/
•
content.phtml?area=2&id=1
Cache is a user-specifiable amount of disk space where temporary files
are stored. These files contain graphics and Web pages you visit. The
primary purposes for storing Web page information is to save time
reloading pages and graphics, and to reduce network traffic by not
having to repeatedly send the information over the network. Risk occurs
if there is sensitive information from encrypted pages stored in the cache,
which could be misused if an attacker gains access to the cache files.
Scripts and scripting languages are executable code that provides a
more interactive Web experience. Some scripts are downloaded to your
computer (ActiveX, Java), others are run via the browser (JavaScript).