Security Blog

People want to be unique and stand out from the crowd in the real world, but when going online, privacy and anonymity is what they strive for. However, it is not that easy to achieve due to device fingerprinting, as every website you visit can be tracked, leaving the trace all over the Internet and building up your digital profile. What is device fingerprinting? Device fingerprinting, also known as browser fingerprinting, is a technique used to identify individual web users by collecting information about their browser settings and system configuration. The “fingerprint” includes screen resolution, supported fonts, timezone, operating system, browser version, plug-ins installed and other specs, building up a unique set, which is compared to other Internet users’. There will hardly be someone using a browser identically customized to yours, so here it is – your unique online “fingerprint”. Once you’re fingerprinted, it gets even easier for third parties to gather more information about you from your behavior online. Simply speaking, every website you visit, every product you view, TV shows you stream, news you read and basically every other move you make on the Internet leaves a trace, this way building up your detailed profile around your interests. If privacy-concerned online users would delete their browser cookies on a regular basis to prevent giving up their data for websites, device fingerprinting does not work that way. It actually goes far beyond – the fingerprinting technology relies on JavaScript rather than cookies to collect data and is able to track users’ activity even when cookies are disabled. No wonder it has earned the name of “cookieless monsters”. What is more, until recently, device fingerprinting worked under the assumption that a person is using the same single browser all the time, while switching between two or more different browsers would have ruined the “fingerprint” algorithm or impede tracking. The newly developed method, cross-browser fingerprinting, is sophisticated enough to identify and track users across multiple browsers and more accurately than ever before – 99,2 % of users were successfully fingerprinted by this new technique. It’s a win for computer science, but the online privacy gets a punch in the back. Are there any good uses for browser-fingerprinting? Uses of browser fingerprinting range from constructive to destructive. Initially, browser fingerprinting technique was developed for banks and supposed to serve as an online fraud prevention measure by detecting suspicious behavior of individuals. Nowadays,  becoming available for set-up on any website, device fingerprinting threatens the privacy of every user across the Internet. Advertising companies and online merchants are the biggest players in this game. Detailed consumer profiling is extremely valuable for precise targeting and the delivery of customized ads, which bring high profits. That is, marketers and advertisers have the power to use your personal data to earn money. Even more threatening, if accessed by hackers, digital “fingerprint” may expose your sensitive data, which, in the worst case scenario, may result in identity theft or hijacked accounts. Can you stop browser fingerprinting? Unfortunately, you can’t make your online “fingerprint” disappear completely, but there are certain measures that can at least blur it a little bit. As the new cross-browser technique makes it nearly impossible to avoid fingerprinting, the following techniques are helpful steps to make it harder for web browsers to track you: #1: Use a popular browser The rule is, the less you stand out from the crowd on the Internet, the more privacy you will have. A choice of unmodified (that means, no plug-ins installed) version of a popular browser, such as Chrome for newly installed Windows 10 operating system, would blend you in among less tech-savvy Internet users. #2 Keep system and browser updated Enabling automatic updates will ensure that you are using the latest version of your operating system and browser. Therefore, you will join the pool of look-alike users and keep up to date with system’s security fixes and improvements. #3: Disable Javascript and Flash Device fingerprinting software runs on JavaScript or Flash, so disabling them would be one of the strongest defenses against tracking. However, be prepared that by doing this your browsing experience will go worse, as many websites won’t work properly without JavaScript and also user-friendly features that typically run on Flash will be lost. #4: Browse in Private mode Browsing in Private or Incognito mode or clearing cookies after each session would slightly  reduce the amount of information added to your “fingerprint”. Nevertheless, your browser properties can still be monitored. #5: Use a VPN service Browsing with a VPN (virtual private network) service enabled will keep your real IP address from being added to your online “fingerprint”. As many users with different browsing habits and backgrounds connect to the VPN servers, individual identification in terms of association to IP address becomes impossible. For this reason, a widely-used VPN service is preferable: it has a bigger crowd of users to get lost in, and a variety of servers to connect in order to obtain a different IP address frequently. Time will tell what device fingerprinting will evolve into and how (fingers crossed) it will be impeded by privacy laws. As for now, the best thing you can do is to take extra security measures on your own to make your digital “fingerprint” more obscure. Join our internship: Click here

Before you open the next document or forwarded file you receive about the recent Coronavirus outbreak, be very careful. The Novel Coronavirus outbreak in China has reached emergency status, with Chinese authorities and organisations alike imposing conveyance barricades, devising remote treatment terminals and more in order to contain the outbreak. During this situation, many directives and documents are floating around the internet, claiming to state news and facts about the Coronavirus disease, and even pointers on how to stay safe. Alarmingly, a report by cyber security firm Kaspersky has revealed these files are actually Trojans and malware, masked in lieu of the headlining topic. Noting the equally viral using of the Coronavirus, Kaspersky malware analyst Anton Ivanov stated, “The coronavirus, which is being widely discussed as a major news story, has already been used as bait by cybercriminals. So far we have seen only 10 unique files, but as this sort of activity often happens with popular media topics then we expect that this tendency may grow. As people continue to be worried for their health, we may see more and more malware hidden inside fake documents about the coronavirus being spread.” The files being shared under the guise of Coronavirus are reportedly Trojans, ransomware and other malicious worms, which are capable of blocking a device, copying or modifying the data on a device, or even stealing them from a user’s folders. Kaspersky has also identified the most popular malware files being used by hackers globally, so the file types that you should be watching out for are — Worm.VBS.Dinihou.r, Worm.Python.Agent.c, UDS:DangerousObject.Multi.Generic, Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.gg, Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.ew, HEUR:Trojan.WinLNK.Agent.gen, and HEUR:Trojan.PDF.Badur.b. However, given that such file names are impossible to identify for the common user, what you should look out for is by accessing the details section of a file shared with you, and identify whether a disguised word document, PDF or video has either of .EXE or .LNK extensions at the end of their names. This is particularly crucial, and is important for you to note, to ensure that both you and your devices remain safe from being infected with one form of Coronavirus or the other. thanks for reading this post hope you like credited to news18

SALT LAKE CITY: Artificial intelligence company, Banjo, based in Park City, has partnered with law enforcement agencies across the state. Their goal is to more quickly respond to emergencies and fight crime faster. “Every second counts,” Banjo founder and CEO Damien Patton told KSL Newsradio’s Dave and Dujanovic, when it comes to emergencies. And in his eyes, artificial intelligence (AI) can help. Law enforcement agencies in Utah are using Banjo’s AI in cases of missing children, for example, and finding them “sometimes in seconds,” he said. How artificial intelligence works? Patton describes Banjo as a business that is “unlocking silos of data.” Its artificial intelligence uses a system called an “event-detection engine” that scans a stream of data from a variety of sources. Those sources include 911 calls, social media posts, traffic cameras, CCTV cameras, and more. The scan begins when Banjo AI detects an anomaly from the stream of data the technology scans. The sound of gunfire in videos posted to social media in an anomaly. So is a signal given off when an airbag deploys are both examples of an anomaly. Banjo’s system deletes the personally identifiable information it collects. Patton says that ensures user data is protected. “Then it goes into our op center, and our team is able to disseminate fact from fiction,” he said. A team of humans at Banjo ensures that the system is not reporting false positives. Banjo alerts authorities once an anomaly is detected and verified. Could artificial intelligence make driving safer? Banjo already partners with law enforcement and other government agencies, like the Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah Department of Transportation. And through partnerships with car manufacturers, Banjo can detect airbag deployments, Patton told Dave & Dujanovic, “When an airbag goes off in a car, that doesn’t mean that 911 is notified immediately,” Patton said. “But with the power of Banjo, and the partnerships we have with car manufacturers, if your airbag does go off we’re able to alert highway patrol minutes faster than the average 911 call would come in.” “Not only does it help save your life, and get you to the hospital faster, it also clears the accident faster and ensures there’s not a secondary accident,” he said. Patton says that Banjo will meet with the Utah Highway Patrol after a wrong-way driver on I-215 in Holladay caused a crash that killed two people. He said Banjo detected the wrong-way driver incident as it happened. He also says that Banjo is now talking with authorities about how to prevent similar incidents before they happen. Detecting crime in real-time Before partnering with law enforcement, Banjo worked with news agencies. Their philosophy changed after detecting, in real-time, the 2017 shooting in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay resort. Patton told Dave & Dujanovic in a previous interview that the Banjo system was able to zero in on the shooter’s location in the Mandalay Bay. Banjo alerted news agencies across the country with that crucial information, but outlets took “almost an hour” to notify the public, he said. “That was the tipping point for me, personally,” he said. “We can no longer wait around for others to save peoples’ lives.” As a result, Banjo started working with public safety officials. “They’re the ones that need the information,” Patton said. He described a recent example of a missing child—one that had not been abducted, but law enforcement reacted as if the child had. Banjo’s technology gave law enforcement information that helped locate the child “within the hour,” Patton told Dave & Dujanovic. Privacy concerns of artificial intelligence It doesn’t take long for the issue of privacy to arise when talking about artificial intelligence. How do companies like Banjo ensure that data won’t be misused? Patton argued that leaders in the tech industry and in government should create so-called “bumper-rails” that are connected to the use of AI. In the case of Banjo, a bumper-rail would be the act of stripping personally identifiable information out of the data they collect. “Any social media content we receive is faceless and nameless,” Patton said.