19. Web and Email Security Exercises

Web and Email Security Exercises

There are two exercises in this lesson to help you understand email and web browser security.

Reflect on Email Security

QUESTION:

Exercise 1: Reflect on HaveIBeenPwned

Haveibeenpwned.com is a free resource for anyone to quickly assess if they may have been put at risk due to an online account of theirs having been compromised or "pwned" in a data breach. For this exercise, you are to go to the website https://haveibeenpwned.com/ and type in an email address you own. You can also try with multiple email addresses.

Were any of your email accounts compromised (aka pwned)?

If yes, what information of yours was disclosed in the breach?

What did you learn from this website?

ANSWER:

Student answers will vary.

My email was breached (pwned) in two incidents. In both cases, my compromised data was Email addresses, Employers, Job titles, Names, Phone numbers, Physical addresses, and Social media profiles. For me, all of this information is public knowledge associated with my work, so no harm was done.

Exercise 2: Web Cookies and History

In this exercise, you're reviewing Google Chrome security settings and cookies.

  1. Open the Chrome browser and go to Udacity's website.
  2. Click Settings > Privacy and Security in > Site Settings > Cookies and site data. Review the cookies generated on Udacity's website. Delete all of the cookies and refresh the browser.
  3. Go to another website of your choosing and review their cookies.
  4. In Chrome's Settings, clear the browsing data. As you go through this process, be aware of the time range and what is removed.

Reflect on Chrome Settings

QUESTION:

What did you learn about web cookies and history?

Did any of the cookies surprise you?

How often do you clear your browser history, cache and cookies?

ANSWER:

Student answers will vary.
Note that cookies track us all over the Internet. Some locations like in Europe have laws restricting what can be tracked and require your permission to track you on their website.

Many of us don’t think to clear our history and cookies and when we do it breaks what we do on the Internet. So just be aware of the tracks you leave when browsing.

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