Logout
From Free net encyclopedia
To logout (also: log out, log-out, logoff, sign-off, sign off) refers to the process of ceasing use of a computer system by removing the user credentials. It is the opposite of login.
Logging out may be done explicitly by the user performing some action: entering the appropriate command, clicking a website link labelled as such. It can also be done implicitly: by powering the machine off, closing a web browser window or leaving the site or not refreshing a webpage within a defined period.
In the case of web sites that use cookies to track sessions, when the user logs out, session-only cookies from that site will usually be deleted from the user's computer. In addition, the server invalidates any associations with the session, making any session-handle in the user's cookie store useless. This features comes in handy if the user is using a public computer.
The terms signon and similar are originally IBM parlance.
It is an important security practice to always logout when you leave the computer to prevent someone unauthorized to tamper with it.
Many people choose to have a password protected screensaver to kick in after some time of inactivity.