What is the NSC_* cookie?
This cookie name is associated with the Netscaler load balancing service from Citrix. This is a pattern type cookie with the root being NSC_ and the rest of the name being a unique encrypted alpha numeric identifier for the virtual server it originated from. The cookie is used to ensure traffic and user data is routed to the correct locations where a site is hosted on multiple servers, so that the end user has a consistent experience.
Our October 2026 scan found it on 4 sites (0% of the 2,450 we scanned), set before any consent.
- Purpose
- Functional
- Belongs to
- Citrix
- Set as
- First-party (under the site's own domain)
- Typical lifetime
- Under a day (vendor says: 12 hours)
- Name
- A family of cookies: the part after NSC_ varies by site or account.
Sites that set NSC_* before consent
The highest-ranked 4 of 4 sites.
- trendmicro.com8 tracking companies
- verizon.com20 tracking companies
- jio.com2 tracking companies
- next.co.uk2 tracking companies
How to stop it
Declining non-essential cookies in a site's consent banner should stop NSC_* being set on later visits. Blocking third-party cookies in your browser settings stops the third-party kind everywhere, and clearing cookies for a site removes any it already set.
Description from the Open Cookie Database (Apache 2.0).
Understanding this page
- How cookie lifetimes work, and why a 13-month _ga matters
What a cookie's "expires" field actually controls, why Google Analytics ships a 2-year default that many sites cut down to 13 months, and how Safari's 7-day cap on script-set cookies changes the picture.
- First-party vs third-party cookies (and why "first-party" still tracks you)
What the distinction actually means technically, why browsers only block one of the two, and how CNAME cloaking, server-side tagging and cookies like _ga let sites keep tracking under their own domain.
- How to block or limit trackers
Browser privacy settings, content blockers, Global Privacy Control and clearing cookies compared honestly — what each one actually stops, what it doesn't, and what it costs you in return.