What is Website Traffic Fingerprinting? How to protect yourself?

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We had earlier written on Browser Fingerprinting where information technology was possible for websites to know who is the person visiting them. Website Traffic Fingerprinting or traffic fingerprinting is a similar method. It allows third parties to snoop on y'all and get an idea of what you do on the Internet. The article explains how it is possible then talks if it is unsafe.

Website Traffic Fingerprinting

Website Traffic Fingerprinting is a method to determine when and what a user does on the Net. The user in question may be using a proxy or a secure tunnel VPN, encryption, etc. But still, it is possible to determine the person's usage of the Internet via snooping on the data packets traveling to and fro on the Net.

Even TOR Network (The Onion Router) says information technology is possible for criminals to decode things beingness done by its users. In its web log, TOR said that data is encrypted and sent frontwards. We all know there are many nodes in the TOR network so that authorities cannot track the users. But and then, website fingerprinting comes in. For TOR likewise, the data packets are vulnerable until they reach the first node in the TOR network. This information tin easily be obtained. If the authorities or criminals prepare up multiple nodes on the TOR network, at that place are loftier chances of data passing through them. When such things happen, they snoopers rip off the encryption to know where the data packets are going.

But Website Traffic Fingerprinting is non only near the TOR browser. It is nearly how people snoop on you lot to know what you are doing on the Internet and how they brand apply of that data.

What motivates Website Traffic Fingerprinting

Co-ordinate to the TorProject,

"The verbal motivation for this effort on behalf of the antagonist is typically non specified, just there seem to be 3 possibilities, in order of increasing difficulty for the antagonist:

The adversary is interested in blocking specific censored webpage traffic patterns, while still leaving the rest of the Tor-like traffic unmolested (perhaps because Tor's package obfuscation layer looks like something legitimate that the antagonist wants to avoid blocking). NOTE: You may supervene upon TOR with any other encrypted traffic.
The antagonist is interested in identifying all of the users that visit a small, specific set of targeted pages.
The adversary is interested in recognizing every single web page a user visits."

How does Website Traffic Fingerprinting piece of work?

Website traffic fingerprinting, or simply 'traffic fingerprinting', works on the customer terminate. That is, snoopers study the data packets entering and leaving a website. As said before, information technology could just exist a marketing guy who is interested in knowing what types of websites get more views – or it can be some authority tracking your moves even if you try a proxy, VPN or other forms of secure browsing.

The fashion data leaves and enters a website says a lot well-nigh what is being viewed, buffered or existence downloaded. If the information packets are huge and the fourth dimension interval amongst releases is too high, it indicates that the user is on some video site.

Likewise, if the information packets are pretty minor and go out the website at a very low interval, it could exist an email website, or someone but reading a website.

Based on these patterns, one tin empathize what is going on. But unless they break the encryption, they can't know about the specific data being transferred.

Read: What is Web Tracking? What are Trackers in browsers?

Dangers of Website Traffic Fingerprinting

The but deadly danger is that website traffic fingerprinting might blow off your identity. It won't steal your information in any way if you are using VPN or other forms of encryption. The chief purpose is to know the user and what are his/her interests on the Internet. The method is mainly used for encrypted packets to check if something illegal is beingness washed. I do non think it tin can be used for annihilation else. There is no need to panic if you lot are using encrypted connections.

This above is my have on Website Traffic Fingerprinting. If you lot feel like adding something, please practise.

Arun Kumar is a Microsoft MVP alumnus, obsessed with technology, specially the Internet. He deals with the multimedia content needs of training and corporate houses. Follow him on Twitter @PowercutIN