Cookie Notice
We use as few cookies as we can get away with, we ask before setting anything that isn't essential, and we never load advertising or analytics on our tool pages.
1.What a cookie is
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store. When you return, the browser sends it back, which lets the site remember something — that you are logged in, that you dismissed a banner, or that you already answered the cookie question.
Some technologies work similarly without technically being cookies — local storage, session storage, and tracking pixels are the common ones. Where this notice says "cookies", it covers those too.
Cookies are not inherently harmful. The problem is not the technology, it is what people use it for. We use them for site function, security, and — only with your permission — to see which articles are actually read.
2.How consent works on this site
When you first visit, a banner appears with three options:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Accept All | Allows every category listed below |
| Reject All | Allows only strictly necessary cookies |
| Customize | Lets you turn individual categories on or off, then Save My Preferences |
Nothing beyond strictly necessary cookies is set until you choose. Rejecting is exactly as easy as accepting — one click, same prominence. We do not use pre-ticked boxes, hidden toggles, or any other pattern designed to wear you down.
Changing your mind
Your choice is not permanent. A small consent icon stays in the corner of every page. Click it at any time to reopen the preferences panel and change or withdraw your consent.
Withdrawing consent is as easy as giving it. That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and it is the standard the law expects.
How long your choice lasts
Your consent record is kept for up to 12 months, after which we will ask again. We also ask again if we add a new cookie category or materially change how we use cookies.
3.Cookie categories
Strictly necessary — always active
Required for the site to work securely: filtering malicious traffic, validating requests, and remembering the cookie choice you just made. They do not track you and are not used for marketing.
Functional — we use none
Would support optional conveniences such as embedded content or sharing features.
Analytical — only if you accept
Google Analytics 4, configured with Google Signals off, no data sharing for advertising, 14-month retention, and tool input fields excluded from all measurement.
Advertisement — only if you accept
Used by our advertising partner to select and measure ads. Reject this category and you will still see ads, but non-personalised ones chosen from page content rather than from anything about you. No advertising runs on our tool pages at all.
Unclassified
Cookies we have not yet categorised. Our aim is for this to be permanently empty. If something appears here, it means we have found a cookie we have not finished identifying — tell us and we will chase it down.
4.Cookies in use
Strictly necessary
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
__cf_bm | Cloudflare | Distinguishes human visitors from bots as part of attack filtering | 30 minutes |
_cfuvid | Cloudflare | Applies per-visitor rate limits | Session |
cf_clearance | Cloudflare | Records that a security challenge was passed, so you are not challenged repeatedly | Up to 1 year |
| Consent cookie | CyberDilmeth | Stores your cookie preferences and evidences that consent was obtained | Up to 12 months |
Cloudflare cookies are set at the network edge before a request reaches our server. They are strictly necessary: without them we cannot filter automated attacks against this site.
Analytical — set only after you accept
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics | Distinguishes one visitor from another | 24 months |
_ga_<id> | Google Analytics | Maintains analytics session state | 24 months |
Advertisement — set only after you accept
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| [AD COOKIES] | [AD NETWORK] | Selects, delivers, frequency-caps and measures advertising | [DURATION] |
Our advertising partner publishes its own list of cookies and its own privacy policy. Reject this category and none of them are set.
Functional
None. This category appears in the consent panel because the consent tool lists all standard categories, not because anything is being set.
Tool pages
No advertising or analytics scripts are loaded on /tools/ pages, regardless of what you consent to.
Administrator-only cookies
If you log in to the site as an author, editor or administrator, WordPress and our security plugin set additional cookies (wordpress_logged_in_*, wp-settings-*, wordpress_test_cookie, wfwaf-authcookie-*) to keep you signed in and to validate firewall sessions. These are never set for ordinary readers.
5.Our interactive tools do not store your input
Our password tools process what you type inside your browser. They do not write it to a cookie, to local storage, or to our servers.
The one exception to "nothing leaves your browser" is the Password Breach Check, which sends a five-character hash prefix to a third-party service so it can answer your query without ever learning your password. That mechanism is explained in full in section 6 of our Privacy Policy. It does not involve cookies.
No analytics or error-reporting script on this site is permitted to capture the contents of a tool input field.
6.Controlling cookies in your browser
Independently of our banner, your browser gives you control. You can usually block all cookies, block third-party cookies only, delete existing cookies, or clear everything when you close the browser.
You will find these under Settings → Privacy in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Brave.
Be aware that blocking strictly necessary cookies entirely may cause parts of this or any other site to stop working.
You can also opt out of Google Analytics across all websites using Google's browser add-on at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Global Privacy Control
If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we treat it as a valid objection to non-essential cookies and honour it.
7.Third-party links
Pages on this site link out to vendor advisories, CISA, NVD, standards bodies and other sources. Those sites set their own cookies under their own policies. We have no control over them, and this notice does not cover them.
8.Changes
We will update this notice whenever our cookie use changes, and we will ask for your consent again where a change requires it. The version number and date above always reflect the current version.
9.Questions
Email [email protected].
If you find a cookie on this site that is not listed here, we would genuinely like to know. Tell us and we will either document it or remove it.
CyberDilmeth — Cookie Notice v1.0, 24 July 2026.
See also: Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Responsible Disclosure