E-commerce is associated with certain risks primarily due to the possible influence of fraudsters on your business. They can try to steal your money, goods, customer data, financial information, ruin your reputation, and so on. It is crucial not only to respond to such challenges on time but also to be able to prevent them. With fingerprinting technology, you can stay one step ahead of scammers. For example one of the most trending way to deal with the online scams is using IPQS device fingerprint that can help you to detect the suspicious activity. It is one of the most important and reliable way that make you attentive when the IPQS score surpass 75 for your device IP address.
What is Device Fingerprinting?
The name “device fingerprinting” speaks for itself. Similar to a human fingerprint, machines also have a unique dataset that sets them apart from others. Fingerprinting technology allows you to collect a huge amount of information about computers, laptops, smartphones, and tablets:
- Browser version;
- Screen resolution;
- Language and time zone;
- IP address;
- Fonts used;
- HTTP headers;
- OS version, and so on.
All this data taken together distinguishes one or another device and can say a lot about its owner. With its help, you can not only identify suspicious visitors but also analyze the activity of legitimate customers and adjust the product to current trends.
How Does It Fight Fraud?
With the help of device fingerprinting, you can get a comprehensive assessment of the device’s state, hardware, and software and, on this basis, conclude the reliability of a particular client. Algorithms and scripts are responsive to a number of parameters:
- Bots and ad-blockers;
- Private browser sessions;
- Emulation devices;
- Proxy servers;
- Out-of-date app versions;
- Tor, etc.
Based on the information received, each device is given an identifier (hash), with which you can prohibit a specific transaction or block a buyer whose actions seemed suspicious to you. Using this technology, you can detect anomalies and non-standard situations, analyze machine performance, determine account and transaction links, and learn the machine’s reputation a person uses. In contrast to cookies, the collected info is stored in databases and not at the visitor’s site, so it is not easy to delete it.
Are There Any Downsides?
Although this technology is effective, it is not recommended to use it alone. The key indicators of its performance are stability and diversity. They mean that each machine processed remains the same and unique compared to many others. It does not always correspond to reality and may complicate the identification of fraudsters to some extent.
Device fingerprinting is based on the data already available about a specific device, and if it was previously seen in fraudulent activities, you could block the client. For other cases, to minimize this method’s disadvantages, experts recommend using additional business protection tools like machine-learning solutions, KYC/AML, etc.
The process of detect affiliate fraud involves identifying and preventing fraudulent activities by affiliates in an affiliate marketing program.
Opt for Multi-Layered Tools
Device fingerprinting technology is a uniquely useful tool in your comprehensive fraud prevention strategy. With it, you can detect and prevent illegal activities automatically and manually if necessary. It can protect you from friendly, CNP, and affiliate frauds, account takeovers, bot attacks, and more. So, do not neglect the analysis of devices, even though scammers can find workarounds. Use helper tools to prevent them from doing it. As a rule, modern providers offer this technology in combination with other reliable instruments.
