When browsing the Internet there are many threats that can compromise our computers. The moment we start browsing the network of networks, we can suffer some type of attack or infection that causes a malfunction of the system. In addition to the risk of our information being stolen, we run into the problem of malvertising. In this sense, one of our concerns should be to prevent our computer from being infected with adware to avoid non-legitimate advertising. Another important question is to know what Adware Tracking Cookie is and how it differs from normal adware.
We are going to put both concepts face to face so that you learn the difference between them. We will also offer you a series of recommendations and tips to avoid being victims of adware and malware.
What is an Adware Tracking Cookie
On certain occasions, especially after the use of antispyware software, we find that elements called Adware Tracking Cookie have been detected that could not be eliminated. In case you don’t know, a cookie is a file with information sent by a website that is saved in the browser. Thanks to this, the website can consult the previous activity and indicate, for example, that a user has visited it before. Fundamentally we can say that cookies have two functions:
- Remember access : it remembers our preferences and shows us or not certain content. In addition, if an Internet user enters their username and password, it is saved in the cookie so that they do not have to be putting it every time we access that website.
- Know information regarding our browsing habits . The problem is that they can sometimes cause privacy-related issues.
As for the Adware Tracking Cookie , we could define it as a tracking type cookie that is used to obtain information about the browsing habits of users. Generally it should be noted that they are related to advertising companies that have an agreement with a website. However, this does not mean that confidential user information is obtained. What they do is collect only the data from the web pages that we visit.
Therefore, when an analysis of our computer detects an Adware Tracking Cookie, we should not worry about them. However, it does not hurt that we periodically delete cookies from our browsers, so that they do not collect so much information from us and help maintain privacy. Therefore, a good policy may be to delete cookies approximately every week.
Why the Adware Tracking Cookie is Detected as a Threat
Some antivirus and antispyware programs will consider an Adware Tracking Cookie dangerous because it stores data about a user. In this sense, most of these types of cookies are third-party tracking cookies that are stored on a user’s computer or device in most cases without their knowledge.
Regarding an Adware Tracking Cookie, it will collect private information about the web browsing history and the search history of an Internet user. For this reason, as they threaten privacy to a certain extent, some software, especially antispyware, usually considers them as threats. Thus, as we already recommended before, a good practice is to delete all our cookies on a regular basis.
Delete an Adware Tracking Cookie from our browser
An option that we could consider to maintain a somewhat greater privacy when browsing, would be for our browser to block all cookies. If the intention is to simply navigate, it could be an option. However, if we want to use services such as email, participate in forums, etc. will require us to use cookies. Therefore, in most cases to be able to use everything, and to save our preferences, we will have to use cookies.
An important consideration to take into account is that to keep our browser optimized, cookies must be deleted from time to time. Also a relevant fact is that when we delete cookies, we will delete all logins and website preferences. Then we will have to introduce them again. However, especially passwords, as they are stored in the browser or in an account, it is not usually necessary to retype them all. However, the minimum is to know the Google password and also that of other browsers with which we have an account.
In addition, it should be noted that the abuse of cookies gradually overloads the browser with many small programs that consume system resources. Therefore, to improve privacy and erase the cookies from the computer in which the Adware Tracking Cookies are included, we will follow these steps:
- We open the browser settings.
- We delete the browsing history.
- We delete all cookies.
- We clear the data cache.
Thus, we will have practically the browser as the first day but maintaining its current configuration.
Delete cookies in Chrome, Firefox and Edge
If we want to delete cookies in Google Chrome we will follow these steps:
- Let’s go to Settings .
- Privacy & Security
- Click on Clear browsing data .
Then we will configure like this and click on the Clear data button:
As for Firefox to delete an Adware Tracking Cookie or any other cookie we will go to:
- Options .
- Privacy & Security and we go to the Cookies and data section of the site.
- There we press the Clear data button.
Then we select cookies and cache by clicking on the clear button. Once finished we go to History and click on Clear history . Here we select all the options and in the time range we put everything.
Regarding Microsoft Edge, we could delete cookies in this way:
- Let’s go to Settings .
- Privacy, search and services .
- Delete exploration data and press the button Choose what should be deleted .
Then we leave it like that and click on Delete now .
What is Adware
We can define adware as unwanted software, which is designed to display ads on our screen. We refer to programs that distribute malicious advertisements and can flood our devices with advertisements.
Generally, these types of ads are simply annoying, but they can become the entry point for other varieties of malware that compromise the computer. Some symptoms that we may have adware on our devices are:
- The appearance of advertisements on sites where they should not be.
- The mysterious change of the home page of your browser.
- Links redirect us to different web pages than they should.
- The web browser is very slow and new toolbars, extensions or plugins have appeared in it.
One of the ways of infection is by installing freeware software that will install adware without our permission. This is generally the case because, after reaching an agreement with the adware distributor, you receive financial compensation that allows you to keep the free software. As for adware, it is not a Windows thing, it is also present in Android and MacOS.
How to prevent adware infection
The use of an Adware Tracking Cookie can affect our privacy, but simply deleting cookies periodically should not have many problems. As much in old equipment we would suffer some slowdown. On the other hand, normal adware is more dangerous, not only because we are going to receive more abusive advertising in our browser. The problem is that it can be the gateway to malware that can appear as a fake update or the installation of an application that is not really what it should.
Regarding measures that we can take to avoid being victims of adware are:
- Have a good antivirus, and if possible antimalware software. An example of the latter free could be Malwarebytes.
- Have our operating system and security software updated with the latest updates.
- Download the programs from the original sources, that is, from the developer’s website.
- When installing a program, please follow all the steps carefully. Sometimes you see options to install other additional applications, browser extensions etc.
- Do not click on offers with abnormally low prices and ignore false warnings saying that we have a virus as they are almost certainly false.
As you have seen, there is a big difference between Adware Tracking Cookie and normal adware.
