How to view cached pages on a computer.?

Question

I read that people can view your banking account through cached pages if you use someone else's computer without getting out of the browser. Is that true? Sometimes I use the library to check my account, but I think I'm closing out of the internet when I do. Scary!

Answer 1

It's possible, but much harder than it may sound. When you visit a web page the computer actually downloads the entire page onto the hard drive, storing in the cache. Depending on the settings of the computer and the browser it may or may not clear the cache when you close the browser. If you leave the browser open somebody can just hit the Back button and see what pages were there before or they can look at the cache and see the pages that were saved. Your best bet is to ask someone at the library what their policy is about storing temporary internet data. It may take a little while for them to get the answer from their IT department but they can tell you what the computer is set to do. Most of the time however banks are aware of this and so limit what data you can see. For instance mine only shows part of the account number. Someone looking at these pages in the cache will see what was on the page when it came up. Also a lot of times banking sites have pages setup in such a way that loading a page from cache gives an error such as "This page has expired", which prevents someone from looking at the stored page. To be safe always close the browser, re-open it and see if you can see your old pages, if you can't than the PC you are at won't do it for anyone else. Also never select the "remember me" options and if there is a "I'm using a public computer" option available use that, it will help ensure the information is deleted instead of stored.

Answer 2

Yes, in IE, there is the 'Temporary Internet Files' folder. In Mozilla/Firefox, the location is kind of cryptic, but can be found in the preferences under Advanced->Cache or Privacy->Cache. In Firefox, the path may not be listed, but it's still there in your Windows profile folder. Suffice it to say that, yes, you can dig through cached pages and find some information... perhaps even sensitive information. Clearing the cache regularly will prevent this. With IE, you use "Delete Files' button with Tools->Options menu under General Tab. With Mozilla/Firefox, you use 'Clear Cache' under the Advanced->Cache or Privacy->Cache preferences.



I wouldn't be concerned specifically where it is more than making sure you regularly clear it out on a regular basis. If you want to ensure that the files can't be recovered from your hard drive, you should also regularly optimize your hard drive and also use an eraser tool (like Eraser 5.7) to ensure that deleted files are zeroed out fully. Of course, if you use a file zeroing tool or hard drive optimization, you won't be able to recover files you may accidentally delete.

Answer 3

sometime it is possible, that you information can be seen from the cached pages but it only happens in the cases where the website design is very poor



today most of the important websites like related to money and important stuff maintains a session for the page that you are logged on. once you close the browser your information then cannot be accessed without your username and password even though the person has the complete link.

this is because once you log out your session expires



so not a big deal dont worry

Answer 4

When you are done using a computer at a public place, do this.



1. Go to Internet options under the TOOLS menu.

2. Click on the button that says DELETE COOKIES

3. Click on the button that says DELETE FILES

4. Click on the button that says CLEAR HISTORY



5. Click on the tab along the top that says CONTENT

6. Click on the button that says AutoComplete

7. Click on the button that says CLEAR FORMS

8. Click on the button that says CLEAR PASSWORDS



Then close all Internet Explorer windows and walk away.



Good luck