Every time someone connects to the internet, they leave behind bits of information about their device and browser. By combining this information, device fingerprinting software creates a picture of the user’s devices that’s near-flawless in its accuracy.

Device fingerprinting software, which can be spoofed, device fingerprinting is unique to each individual device. The information it gathers includes unique data points, such as operating system and browser versions, installed plug-ins, and hardware attributes like GPU capacity and screen resolution. The data is then compiled into a hash, which becomes the unique fingerprint that’s used to identify devices.

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This fingerprint can be stored on a merchant-side database for use at any point in the transaction. Combined with a fraud score and other business intelligence, this information is the key to pinpointing and stopping third-party criminal activity.

As a result, this technology is increasingly being embraced by businesses across industries as a powerful fraud prevention solution. However, it is not without challenges. Inaccurate identification can be a problem, especially if the device undergoes significant changes in its attributes or is shared by multiple users (such as when a user factory resets their device to gain access to their accounts). This can also impact the reliability of other fraud detection tools such as IP address verification.