Indiscrete web browsers assist de-anonymisation. A test on browser fingerprinting by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has shown how uniquely identifiable a user's browser is on the web. What that test is unable to do is to identify individual users. This, however, is the goal of an experiment by the International Secure Systems Lab (Isec Lab). Originally founded by the Vienna University of Technology (TUV), Isec Lab is now a collaborative venture between TUV, Eurécom and the University of California in Santa Barbara. The test makes use of Xing, a platform widely-used in Europe on which many millions of users have published profiles.
The test essentially exploits the fact that many Xing users are identifiable by their membership of various groups. According to Thorsten Holz, one of the researchers who designed the experiment, there are very few people on any social network who belong to exactly the same groups. A 'group fingerprint' could thus allow websites to identify previously anonymous visitors. more... http://tinyurl.com/ydvkkuu _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
