ATDMT

[AliceZ]

I have AVG 9 installed and set the Resident Shield to search for Tracking Cookies. Now, whenever I open my Hotmail and in other IE8 searches, I get a AVG pop-up stating it has found a Tracking Cookie for ATDTMT. I keep removing it, but it keeps coming back.

If this 'cookie' dangerous to my computer? If I turn off the AVG Resident Shield for Tracking Cookies, will CCleaner pick it up so when I clean out the cookies after each session, the ATDKT cookie will also be cleaned out?

I looked in CCleaner several times when I got the pop-up, but I never saw the ATDMT cookie in the Cookie area.

Can someone please help as I don't know that much about computers and don't know if this ATDMT is going to ruin my computer.

Does CCleaner check for and remove Tracking Cookies, such as this ATDMT?

Thank you

Alice

[hazelnut]

There seem to be a lot of hits on a google search for this ATDMT cookie, such as this one

 

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6132_102-0.html?threadID=348991

 

Perhaps follow some of the suggestion and tighten up your cookie management. Do you use Spywareblaster or a hosts file(apart from the MS one)?

[ident]

Can someone please help as I don't know that much about computers and don't know if this ATDMT is going to ruin my computer.

 

 

 

Take a deep breath. A cookie is only a cookie. A text file. It can not do any harm what so ever to your computer. All they are good for is generating marketing statistics. It is incapable of performing any tasks or functions on your computer.

 

Many even more advanced users still panic about tracking cookies. NO Tracking they do can be personally identifiable to you.

 

Remember cookies are stored with a specific web address. Which means they can only get information they put therein the first place. I wont bore you with details on how they do generate information which leads to tracking (things like double click) The simple solution is turn off third party cookies.

[AliceZ]

There seem to be a lot of hits on a google search for this ATDMT cookie, such as this one

 

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6132_102-0.html?threadID=348991

 

Perhaps follow some of the suggestion and tighten up your cookie management. Do you use Spywareblaster or a hosts file(apart from the MS one)?

 

 

Spyblaster; SpyBot; and AVG9

[AliceZ]

Take a deep breath. A cookie is only a cookie. A text file. It can not do any harm what so ever to your computer. All they are good for is generating marketing statistics. It is incapable of performing any tasks or functions on your computer.

 

Many even more advanced users still panic about tracking cookies. NO Tracking they do can be personally identifiable to you.

 

Remember cookies are stored with a specific web address. Which means they can only get information they put therein the first place. I wont bore you with details on how they do generate information which leads to tracking (things like double click) The simple solution is turn off third party cookies.

 

Will CCleaner pick-up Tracking Cookies?

 

I've read that "Tracking cookies are the same as regular cookies because they install on your computer server when you navigate to certain websites. The only difference is that tracking cookies are used in unlawful ways to attempt to steal personal information. Atdmt is a tracking cookie that secretly installs on your computer and should be dealt with as soon as it's detected."

[Aethec]

Tracking cookies are cookies, so yes, it will.

However, I don't think saying "installs" when talking of a cookie is an appropriate word. A cookie is simply a text file.

[ident]

Will CCleaner pick-up Tracking Cookies?

 

I've read that "Tracking cookies are the same as regular cookies because they install on your computer server when you navigate to certain websites. The only difference is that tracking cookies are used in unlawful ways to attempt to steal personal information. Atdmt is a tracking cookie that secretly installs on your computer and should be dealt with as soon as it's detected."

 

Any web site can create a cookie.

 

Look try and reach your own mind here. There is so much rubbish that floats around the net about tracking cookies, and i blame people like Norton and mcafee using scare tactics on users like your self who don't really understand what a cookie even is.

 

A cookie is simply as we keep saying a text file that contains TEXT DATA. Each cookie is tired to an address.

Cookies that attempt to track you like double click are third party cookies that come from clicking banners and adverts.

 

The way they track you (not actually you is because they have sod all clue who you are) is when you may click an ad on another page and it's possible for your browser to send the information from a previous click back because it contains the same domain.

 

All cookies can only be read by the sender. They can not read each other. Servers will only send out the data to the match domain.

 

Summery of what that means, they can only identify that someone who visited a page also visited another page.

 

Thats it. No personal details.

 

The only time a cookie can contain personal details is if you enter your personal into that site. No third party cookie could access that information.

 

If a tracking cookie wants to be on my machine it can feel free to.

 

After all that if you are still worried about cookies i'l give you a little task you can do.

 

Step 1: Open up note pad and type some random text in there

 

Step 2: Save it to desktop

 

Step 3: Get a stop watch and time ten minutes while you watch the text file

 

Step 4: Report back and suspicious behavior by that text file

[AliceZ]

Tracking cookies are cookies, so yes, it will.

However, I don't think saying "installs" when talking of a cookie is an appropriate word. A cookie is simply a text file.

 

 

The reason I asked if CCleaner would delete ATDMT tracking cookie is that when I got the AVG Resident Shield pop-up about an ATDMT tracking cookie notice, I just closed (x) the box, thinking I would clear it out when I do my usual CCleaner after every session. However, when I looked in the Cookies when I was doing the CCleaner Cleaner, I didn't see a ATDMT mentioned there.

[Nergal]

CCleaner is not a security product. It will clean any cookie you do not explictly tell it not to clean.

 

RE this particular cookie: it is a Advert cookie (like google-analytics and 2o7.net) you can safely remove them, block them or stop your computer from even replying to them.

[ident]

CCleaner is not a security product. It will clean any cookie you do not explictly tell it not to clean.

 

RE this particular cookie: it is a Advert cookie (like google-analytics and 2o7.net) you can safely remove them, block them or stop your computer from even replying to them.

 

And turn off third party cookies all together

[Aethec]

And turn off third party cookies all together

 

That means seriously damaging your Internet experience. In fact, I don't think you could use that forum without cookies, as it needs you know who you are.

[ident]

That means seriously damaging your Internet experience. In fact, I don't think you could use that forum without cookies, as it needs you know who you are.

 

Turn off third party cookies. Not cookies.

 

How do you think i'm here if it "damaged" my internet experience.

[Nergal]

I block at the host level with MVP host file

[Aethec]

Turn off third party cookies. Not cookies.

 

How do you think i'm here if it "damaged" my internet experience.

 

What's your definition of "third party" ones ? The one that don't come from the website itself ?

Then you'd have not to visit Google, Bing, or any other site that uses its own cookie to "track" you

[SaintSatinStain]

You can within the CCleaner program itself choose which cookies to clean and which to keep.

 

Most browsers can be configured to accept some and reject others. If you use one of the Gecko browsers, SeaMonkey, Firefox, Flock, or K-Meleon, you can install Cookie Monster, CS Lite, Permit Cookies, Cookie Safe, or some other cookie management extension. I use these aforementioned Gecko browsers and use CS Lite on some and Cookie Monster on others.

 

You find more danger from Flash cookies, why I have the BetterPrivacy extension in SeaMonkey, Firefox, and Flock. I have Clearflash extension in K-Meleon. Read about flash cookies here. With the BetterPrivacy extension you can observe, manage, and delete the flash cookies. For the other browsers you can get the NirSoft program FlashCookiesView.

[Andavari]

I block at the host level with MVP host file

 

I was about to recommend just that.

 

Grab the MVPS HOSTS File and ATDMT will be gone for good (remember to periodically look for an update to it):

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm