Personal Security Glossary

This glossary explains what all those strange words means. Also you can find the meaning of those words when using QuickWiper.

• Auto-Complete

• IE Cache (Temporary Files)

• Cookies

• File Slack Space

• Index.dat Files

• Swap Files

• Temporary Files / Dir

• Deletion Overwrite - Number of Times

Auto-Complete

Internet Explorer can store a record of almost everything that you type into any web site form. Form data can be things such as all the keywords you have ever typed into a search engine and personal information such as your name and address and passwords. 

IE Cache (Temporary Files)

When a web page is requested and delivered to your browser, the images and documents associated with the web page are saved in a temporary Internet file or cache so that the next time they are requested; they are accessed from your computer and not over the web (unless a change has occurred).

Cookies

A cookie is a small message of text stored on your computer. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests. This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser, which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So, for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might see a welcome page with your name on it.

File Slack Space

A file with "slack space" refers to the unused portion of a cluster on a hard drive that a file is stored on.

Index.dat Files

There are multiple Index.dat files in different directories that keep a copy of whatever there is in that folder and they continue keeping those records even after you have deleted the contents of those folders. These files can be very hard to find and erase. If you are in Windows, even with "Show hidden files and folders" enabled, these files are not visible and cannot be found if you do a search for these files. The reason that these files are so invisible is that they are not just hidden, they have been designated as "system" files. System files and folders are treated differently in DOS and Windows and are effectively cloaked from casual searches.

Swap Files

A swap file is an area on your hard disk used as virtual memory and contains data and information that has been accessed on your hard drive.

Temporary Files / Dir

Windows creates temporary files in a folder named "Temp" that stores files used during installation of a program or files used while an application is running.

Deletion Overwrite - Number of Times

This is the number of times the privacy software application will overwrite a particular file on the hard drive. There are many Department of Defense Standards and non-governmental standards in what should be the optimum number of times for overwriting. In most cases, a 1 pass overwrite clears the file, and a 3 pass overwrite sanitizes the file. There is much debate on this issue, with some recommending 7 to 9 passes for the complete removal of any file's data.

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