What is Device Fingerprinting?

by | Mar 9, 2017 | CCNA, CCNP, CompTIA, Data Breaches and Prevention, Exclusive Articles, Malware Prevention, Online Banking Security, Privacy

Device Fingerprinting

What is Device Fingerprinting?

Device Fingerprinting is a technology that collects information from a remote device so that it can be identified uniquely. This technology is used to determine whether a computer communicating is a trusted one. It is done by measuring various parameters like browsing data, Operating Systems, connection attributes, etc. Then, a risk profile of the device is determined, using which the trust factor of the device can be determined.

Why is Device Fingerprinting used?

A cybercriminal can easily use a fake account, username, email address, or IP address for each fraud attack. But using different devices each time is not so simple. That is the main motivation behind Device Fingerprinting.

Using Device Fingerprinting, a service provider can uniquely identify and track the device that accesses the service. It can determine the trust factor of the device, based upon which it can determine fraudulent activities and blacklist a fraudulent device once detected.

Device Fingerprinting is a powerful tool that can recognize returning criminals, even if they change their name, IP address, or browser cookies.

How does Device Fingerprinting detect fraudulent activities?

Device Fingerprinting can detect a fraudulent device in a number of ways :

  • It can detect anomalies in a device based on factors like – whether the real IP address and location of the device are hidden, whether the device is part of a botnet (What is a botnet?), etc.
  • It can fingerprint a device based on whether the connected device is trying to exfiltrate a large amount of data over a short period of time and make decisions based on that.
  • It can determine whether any fraudulent activities were previously conducted from the same device, ISP, or location and, based on that, determine the device’s trust factor.
  • It can determine whether accounts or subscriptions from the connected device are being accessed or shared illegally.
  • It can even blacklist a device based on whether the device was previously involved in any fraudulent activities.

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Amrita Mitra

Author

Ms. Amrita Mitra is an author, who has authored the books “Cryptography And Public Key Infrastructure“, “Web Application Vulnerabilities And Prevention“, “A Guide To Cyber Security” and “Phishing: Detection, Analysis And Prevention“. She is also the founder of Asigosec Technologies, the company that owns The Security Buddy.

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