Tracking pixels can conduct surveillance for targeted attacks

[Steve Kinney]

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On 04/18/2017 05:26 PM, Mirimir wrote:
> On 04/18/2017 12:38 PM, Razer wrote:
>>> Malicious hackers can use tracking pixels to help them gather 
>>> intelligence for attack campaigns, both mass and targeted in
>>> scope.
> 
> <SNIP>
> 
> Well, prudent folk don't render HTML, or download embedded stuff
> :)

I haven't seen one of these in many moons.  Decently designed mail
readers that render HTML do not pull in remote content unless
expressly directed to.  "Normal" website based trackers use
Javascript; it is transparent to the (naive) user and can harvest a
much more detailed profile of the viewer's browser than that
volunteered by HTTP request headers.

Javascrpt filters that block calls for offsite scripts and halt
execution of scripts embedded in HTML cover most of the JS
surveillance vector.  I do occasionally dissect web pages to see what
they're made of, with special attention to spyware, but I have never
seen a 1px "web bug" (yes, they have a name) in an HTML document.  Not
to say they can't be used, but as far as I can tell they rarely are.

An option to block all 3rd party image content by default would be a
good addition to a tool like NoScript.  Many users would be shocked -
SHOCKED, I TELL YA! - to learn how often they are visiting Cloudflare,
Amazon, and image hosting sites like Photobucket or Imageshack while
viewing "independet, owner operated" websites.

:o)





I do occasionally dissect
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