Ad-tech arms race continues: DNS system exploited to silently follow folks around the web
Developers working on open-source ad-blocker uBlock Origin have uncovered a mechanism for tracking web browsers around the internet that defies today's blocking techniques.....MUCH MORE
A method to block this so-called unblockable tracker has been developed by the team, though it only works in Firefox, leaving Chrome and possibly other browsers susceptible. This fix is now available to uBlock Origin users.
The tracker relies on DNS queries to get past browser defenses, so some form of domain-name look-up filtering could thwart this snooping. As far as netizens armed with just their browser and a regular old content-blocker plugin are concerned, this tracker can sneak by unnoticed. It can be potentially used by advertising and analytics networks to fingerprint netizens as they browse through the web, and silently build up profiles of their interests and keep count of pages they visit.
And, interestingly enough, it's seemingly a result of an arms race between browser makers and ad-tech outfits as they battle over first and third-party cookies.
Ooh, la la
Here's where it all began: in a GitHub issue earlier this month, a developer who goes by the name Aeris online, said that French newspaper website liberation.fr uses a tracker crafted by French marketing analytics outfit Eulerian "that seems to be unblockable."....
Here's a quick search of The Register for boffins.
It shows 5591 hits, I'd have thought it was more. Maybe it's not more than the rest of the internet but they sure are trying to keep the word alive.
