DrawnApart, a new tracing technique
A group of researchers from Ben Gurion University, the University of Lille and the University of Adelaide have analyzed the possibility of use the GPU to track network activity. They tested 2,550 devices, with multiple individual CPU configurations, and called this technique DrawnApart.
They managed to increase the tracking capacity by 67% with this method. To do this, they used WebGL, a cross-platform API that serves to render 3D graphics in the browser. They were able to verify that it is possible to track users through the GPU in the analyzed systems.
Through the use of WebGL, using DrawnApart they can perform different tasks. For example, they can collect the number and speed of different GPU units running, measure rendering time, hardware configuration, operating system data, time zones, screen resolution, the language you use or the type of font.
Using different measures, they were able to detect different data from online activity. Even in case of hardware swapping in the systems, they could see if those fingerprints were still visible or not.
They found that, thanks to tracing through GPU fingerprintswere able to extend the follow-up from 17.5 days on average to 28. They further indicated that there are a number of conditions that do not affect DrawnApart, such as potential workload changes, GPU payloads from other browser tabs, or if the system crashes. restart.
Tips to protect privacy
Therefore, as we can see, there is a new technique that could be used for the online activity tracking. The truth is that there are many methods that can compromise our privacy. What can we do to prevent it? We are going to give some essential tips for it.
The first thing is avoid exposing our data too much personal. For example, we must avoid posting personal information publicly on social networks, posting in public forums and leaving our email address exposed or posting comments on web pages and making that data available to bots.
It is also essential to use applications that are official. This will prevent our data from being leaked. For example, a common mistake is to install third-party programs without really knowing how they are going to treat our personal information. It is imperative to avoid software that can be potentially dangerous.
But without a doubt, something very important to preserve the data is to correctly use the browser. We must always use an updated program and be careful with the extensions that we install. It is precisely through plug-ins that hackers can access our personal data and put privacy at risk when we open a website or log in to a platform.
