DEVICE FINGERPRINTING

Device fingerprinting

Device fingerprinting is a fairly new technology that is useful in fraud prevention and safeguarding any information from one's computer. Device fingerprinting uses data from the device and browser sessions to determine the risk of conducting business with the person using the device. This technology allows companies to better assess the risks when business is conducted through sites that include, e-commerce sites, social networking and online dating sites and banks and other financial institutions. ThreatMetrix is one of the leading vendors of device fingerprinting. This company employs a number of techniques to prevent fraud. For example, ThreatMetrix will pierce the proxy to determine the true location of a device. Due to the growing number of hackers and fraudsters using 'botnets' of millions of computers that are being unknowingly controlled,  this technology will help not only the companies at risk but the people who are unaware their computers are being used.

It is difficult to surf the web without being tracked by device fingerprinting today. However, for people who do not want device fingerprinting, there are ways to attempt to block fingerprinting. The only ways to stop device fingerprinting cause web browsing to be very slow and websites to display information incorrectly. “There are not convenient options for privacy when it comes to device fingerprinting” said Peter Eckersely a staff scientist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and privacy-advocacy group. Trying to avoid device fingerprinting is mostly just impractical and inconvenient. Fingerprints are tough to avoid because they are taken from data that are routinely passed from computers to websites automatically. Even if someone changes something slightly, the fingerprinters can still recognize the machine. There is one way to figure out that a device is being fingerprinted. The software JavaScript can be used to collect fingerprinting data. If it asks a browser for specific information, that could be a clue that a fingerprinter is working. Companies that are most known for conducting fingerprinting are advertisers.

Sentinel Advanced Detection Analysis and Predator Tracking (A.D.A.P.T.)

Sentinel Advanced Detection Analysis and Predator Tracking (A.D.A.P.T.) is device fingerprinting software technology that identifies the device (computer, tablet, smartphone, …) being used to access a website. This information in turn can be used to help differentiate legitimate users from those using false identities or those attempting to work anonymously. A.D.A.P.T. uses only HTTP and JavaScript to identify a device and identifies devices without requesting any personal information entered directly by the user. It makes an accurate “fingerprint” of the device by using many different pieces of information including, operating system, browser, and PC characteristics. A.D.A.P.T. is concealed in that the user of the device has no idea that the device is being “fingerprinted” and there is no actual tagging of the device.

Canvas fingerprinting

Canvas fingerprinting is one of a number of browser fingerprinting techniques of tracking online users that allow websites to uniquely identify and track visitors using HTML5 canvas element instead of browser cookies or other similar means.