Cyberwoozling

Cyberwoozling refers to a Web site's collection of personal information about its visitors that is practiced most often without the knowledge of the user. The difference between cyberwoozling and spyware is that the former gathers information from a user while he is visiting a Web site; whereas the latter does the same but also incorporates other malicious activities that can interfere with the normal workings of the machine, like changing the browser's home page and opening random Web pages. Cyberwoozling relates to the tactic of spyware to report the user's trends only and does not involve any other malicious activities.

The simplest method of cyberwoozling is the use of cookies to gather personal information. Browsers are typically set to ask the user for permission to enable cookies for a Web site but if a user's browser settings allow the use of cookies by default, cyberwoozling becomes a threat.

Another method is to install on the browser some "add-in" code, which is sent to the user and executed on his side rather than being run on the Web site or server's side. Malicious add-ins can attach themselves to the browser and log the user's browsing pattern, storing the Web sites visited, period of time spent at the site, and other information. The add-ins can be used to control what pop-ups to display to the user, according to these logged user habits.

To prevent cyberwoozling, visit only known and trusted Web sites. This would decrease the possibility of having add-in codes being installed on the machine. Another way is to disable cookies, but this can impair legitimate features of some Web sites. An anonymizer is not helpful in this situation because it functions between the user's browser and the server, and in cyberwoozling the compromise is made on the user's side.