Is it bad to not log out of a secured website?

[TimPoet]

Ok, this is a little silly, but it's been bugging me for months if not years.

When I am viewing my checking acct info on my bank's website or some such thing, is it dangerous to my privacy to just collapse the browser vice logging out first?

Does just closing the browser somehow leave me open to the theft of my private info? I know Amazon doesn't have an option to log out. But they require you to use your password every time you order something.

[sgtspector]

It has been my experience that when you close the browser or leave that page the secure site will severe the connection. Also when the connection is left idle for a preset time the connection will also severe and you will need to log in again for access. I don't know if this is universal or not but like I said it seems to me most secure (https) sites work this way.

[mairving]

Most financial sites won't allow you to remain logged in like the forums here. Most of them will also auto log you off after a preset period of time. Closing your browser effectively kills the session. If you are using FF or IE7 with tabbed browsing and you close the tab that you are on, it won't kill the session. So logging out or closing your browser window serve the same purpose. As long as you are the only one using the computer it doesn't matter a lot.

[EzyStvy]

I just connected to my bank and logged in...Closed the browser and got a pop up window about them signing me off for security reasons...

[ITlover]

Well for security purpose it is better to have yourself signed out of all the websites especially out of hotmail, yahoo and discussion forums like this otherwise any stranger can access your password if you finds out that you are signed in with your username and password.
There are softwares in the market that can help the strangers get your password if they type in your username.

He can also use your cookies to access info about you. There are some sensitive websites like banks websites that offer internet banking service to there customers so that they can use there username and password to gain access to there bank account status and information and for security purpose they do have a perticular period for which they allow you to remain logged in if your logged in status is idle and then disconnects you automatically.

But i donot think such security measures take place in hotmail and yahoo.
I have noticed that when i am logged into yahoo and hotmail and when light goes out due to power failure or when i accidently close the web browser window of yahoo.
When i reopen the yahoo website , i see myself logged in.

Its better to sign out than to leave yourself at the mercy of the cruel hackers.

Regards,

[mairving]

Originally Posted by ITlover Well for security purpose it is better to have yourself signed out of all the websites especially out of hotmail, yahoo and discussion forums like this otherwise any stranger can access your password if you finds out that you are signed in with your username and password. There are softwares in the market that can help the strangers get your password if they type in your username. He can also use your cookies to access info about you. There are some sensitive websites like banks websites that offer internet banking service to there customers so that they can use there username and password to gain access to there bank account status and information and for security purpose they do have a perticular period for which they allow you to remain logged in if your logged in status is idle and then disconnects you automatically. But i donot think such security measures take place in hotmail and yahoo. I have noticed that when i am logged into yahoo and hotmail and when light goes out due to power failure or when i accidently close the web browser window of yahoo. When i reopen the yahoo website , i see myself logged in. Its better to sign out than to leave yourself at the mercy of the cruel hackers. Regards,

You are talking about 2 different things. Hotmail and the like allow you to remain logged in to their site for convenience sake as an option. Once you choose this option it stores some information as a cookie. No bank site will do this for security sake. Since this information isn't stored in cookie then your login information is saved into a browser session. Once that browser session has ended, i.e. you close your browser window that login information is lost and you would be forced to login again. The only time this would be a problem would be if you closed a tab instead of the browser window since the session would still be open. This would allow you to login to the site without entering a userid and password. Banks generally limit their session to a specific time period so that you will be logged out after a few minutes of inactivity so even if you left the browser window open so it doesn't matter that much anyway.