I am discovering just how challenging it is to be secure and anonymous while using the web. Aparently Java code embedded in a web site can read various configuration settings of your computer while you are browsing that site. This happens without prompting the user. In my case I was browsing the Audit My PC web site using Firefox, a browser most consider to be more secure than Internet Explorer. The only option available to the user is to disable Java and JavaScript. Of course this prevents the user from experiencing the full functionality of some sites such as Gmail which make heavy use of AJAX. I guess the lesson here is while connected to a remove server one must be ever vigilant.
