What Are Cookies?
Cookies are text files with small pieces of data — like a username and password — that are used to identify your computer as you use a computer network. Specific cookies known as HTTP cookies are used to identify specific users and improve your web browsing experience.
Data stored in a cookie is created by the server upon your connection. This data is labelled with an ID unique to you and your computer.
When the cookie is exchanged between your computer and the network server, the server reads the ID and knows what information to specifically serve to you.
Different types of cookies – Magic Cookies and HTTP Cookies
- Magic Cookies
- HTTP Cookies
Cookies generally function the same but have been applied to different use cases:
“Magic cookies” are an old computing term that refers to packets of information that are sent and received without changes. Commonly, this would be used for a login to computer database systems, such as a business internal network. This concept predates the modern “cookie” we use today.
HTTP cookies are a repurposed version of the “magic cookie” built for internet browsing. Web browser programmer Lou Montulli used the “magic cookie” as inspiration in 1994. He recreated this concept for browsers when he helped an online shopping store fix their overloaded servers.
The HTTP cookie is what we currently use to manage our online experiences. It is also what some malicious people can use to spy on your online activity and steal your personal info.