Concept: Chicago-based FingerprintJS developed an identification API that helps enterprises to identify web visitors with better accuracy. FingerprintJS API when embedded with the developer’s code protects users from online fraud, spam and account takeovers with precise user identification.
Nature of Disruption: Based in JavaScript, the technology can identify unique website visitors who are using incognito windows and VPNs. The technology is open-sourced and compiles signals inside any browser to generate an idiosyncratic identifier able to detect unusual behavior patterns. FingerprintJS Pro, the upgraded version of the company, bears advanced identification accuracy and cloud hosting abilities. The pro version’s server-side analysis API leverages case login pages from unauthorized users, enabling complex analysis as compared to the original version’s single JavaScript file. This leads to minimal fake account signups, reduction of credit card fraud and termination of duplicate account creation. The early version queried and subsequently hashed browser attributes, meaning the creation of identical fingerprints in situations where multiple people are using the same browser, in the same version, on the same type of device. The new server-side API can compute these data on the server to explore large masses of auxiliary data, like URL changes or IP addresses, to distinguish between users who would otherwise have the same fingerprints. The API can also process information without browser exposure to minimize the risk of external alteration.
Outlook: FingerprintJS has raised US$8 million in a Series A round of funding led by Nexus Venture Partners. The company aims to use the funds to augment its fraud prevention capabilities and commercialize the product for enterprises.
This article was originally published in Verdict.co.uk