ItsGeekToMe.co

Q: I always use a computer at the public library.  Often when I sign into Hotmail, someone’s e-mail address is there.  They didn’t click on the two blocks below their password.  Isn’t that risky?  I might not be a nice guy.

-Frederick N.
Fort Walton Beach, FL

A: Any time you use a computer connected to the internet, you run the risk of having personal information exposed.  The level of risk correlates directly to the sensitivity of the information you process.  For example, if someone can find out which websites you visit, they can learn your interests and target you with personalized advertising.  Annoying, but tolerable.  If someone can monitor a credit card transaction, they can make purchases on your bill.  Extremely annoying, and not at all tolerable!

The risk rises when you use publicly accessible computers, such as those in a library or school.  In many cases, a complete history of every website you visited is available to the next person who sits down.  Depending on how the computer is configured, it can contain cached copies of files you opened, views of personal e-mail messages, bank transactions in progress, or cookies containing passwords or other account information.  Internet Explorer has a tendency to want to help you fill out online forms by remembering everything you ever typed in any form, and suggesting it again in the future.  That’s great in the relative security of your home office, but on a public computer, it is not so welcome.

You can take steps to protect yourself.  If the sign-in screen of a website has a checkbox that says something like “This is a public computer” then yes, you absolutely should check it unless you’re on your own personal computer.  By the same token, if there are checkboxes that say stuff like “Remember me on this computer” or if you get a pop-up dialog asking if you want Windows to remember your password, you should say “No.”  These steps might even apply in your own home, where you might have kids who you don’t want retrieving your personal account data

One last thing:  All of the above safety steps are useless if you forget to log off when you’re done!  For best results, you should also close the browser window, to ensure all “Session Cookies” are completely destroyed.

READER TIP OF THE WEEK: This week’s tip comes from Bill Frick, a member of the Emerald Coast Computer Society, who writes: