There are a huge variety of methods by which you can protect your business, money, and customer data from fraudsters. Understanding all the tools and figuring out which ones you need the most can be tricky. If you want to know more about the use of device fingerprinting protection, read this article.
What Is This Method?
Device fingerprinting is a unique technology that collects and analyzes machines’ data from users that visit your site. Absolutely any devices fall under its work: tablets, smartphones, laptops, and computers. This method allows you to examine a huge layer of parameters (sometimes more than a hundred):
- Device time zone and language settings;
- HTTP header;
- Type of a battery;
- IP address;
- CPU ID;
- Browser version;
- Display resolution, and so on.
It is understood that each device has a unique set of hardware and software — a digital fingerprint, which makes it stand out from the millions of similar machines.
How Does It Work?
This method’s principle of operation is somewhat similar to using cookies; only it is more advanced, and it is not easy to bypass it. The technology analyzes the received data and reacts to the so-called triggers that make this or that user suspicious of the system:
- Tor browser;
- Proxy servers;
- Private sessions;
- Emulation devices;
- Country restriction list;
- Bots, ad blockers, and so on.
The entire analysis process is automated, and thanks to machine learning and a customizable action algorithm, device fingerprinting technology are able to identify non-obvious correlations and patterns for a more effective fight against fraudsters.
What Is It Used for?
This tool has existed for a long time; earlier, it was only used to analyze user actions for marketing and advertising purposes. Now it has received a new development in the field of fraud prevention. Even though scammers regularly come up with new methods of deceiving merchants and their clients, fingerprints remain effective against most of them:
- Identity theft;
- Phishing;
- Account takeover;
- Friendly fraud;
- CNP fraud, etc.
How Effective Is It?
This method is recommended for every merchant that processes online payments. It allows you to identify unreliable customers in advance and reduce many business risks. However, it has its weaknesses, sometimes enabling scammers to bypass installed scripts. That is why using machine fingerprints alone is not enough to build reliable protection. It is better to apply several tools at once to minimize the disadvantages of each.
Preventing Cyber Crimes
Modern providers offer comprehensive solutions that reliably protect your business from fraud, and at the same time, do not impair the user experience. The main thing is to find a service that will give you a set of tools most suitable for the specifics of your business. It is difficult to say for sure who will decide to commit illegal actions against you and when, so it is worth taking preventive measures. Otherwise, restoring your reputation and customer base can be costly.