What is "sessionhash" and why do you think it's necessary (obviously it isn't, since I can access the thread/post anyway)?
Given the trouble I've had with worms, viruses, and parasites, no. I no longer accept cookies unless I know exactly what they are. What business is it of yours?
Since I block it and have no trouble logging in or posting, what function does it have? Blocking it doesn't prevent me from doing what I want to do, but I'd rather not have to keep blocking it over and over again every time I switch from one thread or post to another. Since I'm probably the only person who's asked, it's hardly a big issue. But if it doesn't do anything, perhaps you'd consider getting rid of it. Too damn many cookies everywhere.
I don't think your problem is cookes, though after going through a hacker attack the paranoia is hard to avoid, and in some cases is fully justified. A good free virus scanner: http://www.grisoft.com A good free software firewall to get a handle on outgoing connections. It also blocks incoming traffic not blocked by the hardware router: http://www.zonelabs.com A simple hardware router to block most incoming traffic: http://www.dlink.com/ A good free browser: (Mozilla Firefox) http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ And a good (non-Microsoft) email client are all necessary for best protection these days. You are right that a cookie can store sensitive information. However, when surfing Elite Trader the most sensitive information you give out is your user name and password, which is not really sensitive. Financial/personal information is far more sensitive in nature and should probably be where your cookie caution should be directed. Anyway, what program is detecting the cookies for you, and can you give us a link?
A majority of web problems aren't caused by web sites, but by spyware and already preinstalled malacious programs and code that are installed on the user's machine. If you are experiencing problems, download the latest spyware removal programs such as "ad-aware" (www.lavasoftusa.com). Make sure you update the program after you run it for the first time and then allow it to search your computer for spyware. Cookies are essentially "variables" and not "code." Some cookies could be used to track information about a user, but most are legitimate. If you feel that cookies are more harmful than not, you could always globally disallow cookies while selecting which sites can use them. Sessionhash is generally a PHP variable that is used to track a session when cookies are disabled. If you were to erase sessionhash from the URL, your session could not be tracked. In essence, you would have to log back on every time you clicked a new link.