How-To Prevent Internet Explorer from Caching SSL pages to Disk

Unlike Firefox which does not cache SSL pages to disk by default, Internet Explorer (IE) does cache Encrypted SSL Web Pages to your hard disk.  The issue with this is although the sensitive web pages encrypt via SSL/HTTPS in transit, when they arrive at your computer, IE will cache them in clear text on your drive.

Yeah, I know. Not good.  Let’s fix it!

How-To Prevent IE from Caching/Saving SSL Pages to Disk

Step 1

Click Tools, Internet Options

Note: Although these steps are from IE 8, the config change is very similar in IE7, etc..

OR, if you have the File Menu bar present:

Step 2

Click Advanced Tab, scroll down to the Security section and Check Box Do not save encrypted pages to disk

I would recommend clearing all cache and history files after making the changes and restarting IE to clear out what might be in memory.  Here are the steps for both IE8 and IE7:

• How-To Clear IE7 Internet Cache and History
• How-To Clear IE8 Internet Cache and History

Happy cleaning!