![]() Your browser is offering to remember your passwords for you. Your browser can reveal your password with a few clever clicks Imagine waking up one day to the news that someone has leaked a database of visited websites linked to actual people’s names or email addresses. Or someone could potentially expose your more, umh, embarrassing browsing habits. Once someone knows which websites you visit, they can trick you into giving up your login details to sensitive sites (such as your bank’s) by sending you links to fake website replicas that look exactly like the real thing - this is what’s known as a phishing scam. Basically, a few lines of code are enough to force your browser to reveal your browsing history. When browsers figured this out, sniffers started timing how long it takes your browser to load different websites the shorter it takes, the likelier it is that you have visited them before. You know how, once you visit a website, the links that lead to it are shown in a different color? At first, these sniffers would look at these differences in color to compile a list of what sites you have already visited. These include tracking companies looking at your online activity to target you with adjusted ads and messages, but also cyber-criminals customizing their online attacks to make you more likely to fall for them. Unfortunately, while your browser loves making lists, ‘history sniffers’ love reading them. ![]() Browsers keep this log so you don’t have to keep typing long URLs when three keystrokes will do. Starting with your browser history – the long and growing list of websites you have visited. Welcome to the joys of ‘history sniffing’ Many of the best browsers for security and privacy will delete this information automatically as a precaution. But all that personal information your browser stores is leaving you exposed to tracking and hacking – and it doesn’t take much for the wrong people to get their hands on it.
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