browserrecon project

advanced web browser fingerprinting

06/20/2008 - Testing RC1 of browserrecon 2.0-php

These days the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) of browserrecon 2.0-php ready for testing. You are able to see the new version online on the project web site. There will be some new fingerprint match methods added which increase the accuracy of the whole fingerprinting procedure.

06/17/2008 - Added details regarding browserrecon-asp in the FAQ

The FAQ has been improved to address also questions regarding the new ASP release of browserrecon. Especially the problems regarding access permissions to files and objects are discussed in detail.

06/15/2008 - First public release of browserrecon 1.0-asp

Today a new port of browserrecon has been published. With browserrecon 1.0-asp the first release for Microsoft ASP (Active Server Pages) is available. The goal of this port was to provide the same features as like in the initial PHP version. However, not all of the features of browserrecon 1.4-php are also available in browserrecon 1.0-asp: The functions for updating the fingerprint data base are not implemented and the presentation feature "besthitlist" for a list of the top ten matches is not available too. Those elements might be added in a future release. The public fingerprint data base repository is compatible with both, the PHP and the ASP release.

06/13/2008 - Release of browserrecon 1.4-php

The last release of the 1.x tree has been published. browserrecon 1.4-php comes with some minor improvements and the latest fingerprint data base containing 415 different fingerprints. The next major release will include some new tests to improve the accuracy of fingerprinting.

06/11/2008 - 400 fingerprints available

Today the 400th web browser fingerprint has been added to the official data base repository. Please be sure to use the latest data base package on your installation to get the highest level of accuracy and reliability during fingerprinting.

06/07/2008 - Expanding the data base with classic web browsers

These days some of the classic web browsers are fingerprinted and saved into the public fingerprint data base repository. Most of them will be downloaded from http://browsers.evolt.org/ where an archive of traditional web browsers is provided. If you have access to some exotic web browser too, please help our project and upload your fingerprint too.

06/03/2008 - Release of browserrecon 1.3-php

A new release of browserrecon-php has been published. This includes some major improvements. The speed of the analysis has been increased by approx. 30 %. And there were some problems fixed according to adding new fingerprints with high level of similarity (sometimes they were not added correctly) and identification of header-ordering. This release includes 353 fingerprints.

06/02/2008 - Major changes for upcoming release

The next release of browserrecon 1.3 is under development. Some important changes of major dimension will brought with this new version. This requires a new format of the header-order data base file (header-order.fdb). The entries usually end with the string ", " which is the common delimiter for the header names. However, the new version will not contain a trailing delimiter of this kind. Because browserrecon 1.3 is running already on the project web site the fingerprint repository already contains the new format. Please check the compatibility of the data base you are using with your version of browserrecon.

05/30/2008 - Enhancement of the FAQ

The faq of the project became some improvements. Some legal issues are discussed and the references to similar projects updated. Furthermore technical details how to add new fingerprints to the local data base is discussed.

05/25/2008 - Release of browserrecon 1.2-php

This minor release of browserrecon-php introduces a new feature. With the function counthitpossibilities() it is possible to scan a raw header for the count of possible matches. This makes it possible to identify weak fingerprint determinations and not exact matches. See the online scan on the project web site for example.

05/22/2008 - Offline analysis possible

A new feature is available on the project web site. It is possible to do an offline analysis of previous gathered http request headers. For example you might collect those during a network sniffing attempt and you would like to analyze them afterwards. This feature is also a good approach to identify possibilities to defeat web browser fingerprinting by changing headers, values, orders and spelling.

05/21/2008 - Frequently Asked Questions online

A new section on the web site is discussing the frequently asked questions (FAQ) about the project. It is all about the idea of the project, installation and use of the software.

05/20/2008 - Release of browserrecon 1.1-php

The latest release of browserrecon (php edition) comes with some enhancements: The collection of the live http headers is now realized with the built-in function getallheaders() instead of apache_request_headers() which guarantees the support for PHP prior 4.3.3. Still, the CGI mode of PHP is not supported yet. Furthermore, the announcement mode besthitlist generates a list of the best matches. And with identifyproxy() there is a function to analyze the use of proxies. The current release contains the data base repository with 335 fingerprints.

05/18/2008 - Detailed documentation available

The online documentation has been enhanced. More details about the flow and architecture of the application has been included. Furthermore, details about the advantages of browserrecon are discussed too.

05/16/2008 - Data base contains more than 300 fingerprints

The fingerprint collection of the last few weeks gathered more than 300 fingerprints of well-known and lesser known web clients. You are able to download the current repository or to browse it online.

05/08/2008 - First public release of browserrecon 1.0-php

Today a first public release of browserrecon 1.0-php has been published. This php release comes with 163 fingerprints within the database. The accuracy of determination of current releases of the major web browsers (e.g. Mozilla Firefox 2.x, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Opera 9.x) is very good. Old and alternative browsers are not really supported yet. Help to improve the fingerprint data base by uploading new fingerprints.

05/07/2008 - Improvement of database and enhancement of documentation

I am currently collecting as many web client fingerprints as possible. Help to improve the fingerprint data base by uploading new fingerprints. Furthermore, the documentation has been enhanced by the chapter "Installation" which discusses how to apply the scripts to provide web browser fingerprinting within your php applications.

05/04/2008 - Changes of implementation and database maintenance

Some basic changes of the first internal implementation were done. It is now possible to analyze offline fingerprints without fetching thema from a real http request. This makes it possible to maintain the new uploaded fingerprints before adding them to the fingerprint database. This will help to improve the quality of the available fingerprint repository.

05/02/2008 - First implementation, online database and documentation

These days a major step within the browserrecon project was made. A first implementation with the final technology has been implemented. The next days as many fingerprints as possible shall be collected. Those are also available on the online fingerprint database. And the documentation is pointing out some details about the methodology and techniques to determine the major browsers.

04/11/2008 - Launch of the web site

The implementation of the first release of browserrecon has begun. Therefore, the public project website has been launched to inform visitors about progress and the upcoming download. Check the news section or subscribe to the RSS feed to stay informed about the occuring progress.