Although this article is 3 years old, the information will be a surprise to many. Flash cookies can be installed on your computer (they are hard to find) and among other things reinstall regular cookies as soon as we delete them. http://www.ghacks.net/2007/05/04/flash-cookies-explained/
Very interesting, Richard. I checked and I had only one listed and didn't recognize it so I deleted it. I haven't turned it off (though I'm now tempted). I'm still not sure why these cookies are different or why that is necessary - maybe I'm dense, but the article didn't explain the reasoning clearly enough for me to understand. I'm also not sure if MSE (or anything) will catch these if they are malware (maybe Spybot or SuperAntiSpyware after the fact but from what I read these seem to bypass the normal process so those programs may not work in these cases) - I suspect not (which again tempts me to turn it off). Then again, I'm not quite sure when they may be needed or useful (I mean I had only one and I'd never checked or even known about it in over 3 years I've had this computer) - I don't want to disable the Flash Player so that I need to go to settings to allow cookies every time I want to use it (or if not always, at least often enough to be a pain). Still, if I had only one in 3 years, it can't be something I do very often or they aren't being saved. I think I'll turn it off to be on the safe side and deal with any resulting issues if/when they appear.
Thanks much for the info and the heads up. I had never heard about this before. Geez, system security is becoming more and more difficult all the time. I felt covered and then I hear this. I wonder what else occurs that I haven't heard about and have no defense against.
