DEVICE FINGERPRINTING - ProfiledRisk

Device fingerprinting enables ProfiledRisk to understand who is behind an action, beyond just the user account. It provides a stable hardware- or browser-level identifier that supports:

Detection of multi-accounting and synthetic identities
Early identification of account takeover risks
Identification of fraud clusters tied to specific devices
Behavioural profiling of legitimate users over time
Stronger signals in web and mobile channels where IPs fluctuate

A strong device identifier dramatically increases ProfiledRisk’s precision when linking events to a profile.

Web Implementation — DeviceGuard SDK

You can collect a browser fingerprint and pass a consistent device_id into all event ingestion requests.

Integration Example

DeviceGuard SDK

<!-- Step 1: Include DeviceGuard SDK from CDN -->
<script src="https://your-domain.com/sdk/deviceguard.min.js"></script>

<script>
  // Step 2: Create an instance with your SDK configuration
  const deviceGuard = new DeviceGuard({
    apiKey: 'your-api-key-here',
    endpoint: 'https://your-domain.com',
    debug: true
  });

  // Step 3: Initialize SDK
  deviceGuard.init()
    .then(result => {
      console.log('Device ID:', result.deviceId);

      // Include this ID in your ingestion payload:
      // device.device_id = result.deviceId
    })
    .catch(error => {
      console.error('DeviceGuard initialization failed:', error);
    });
</script>

This identifier should be included in the device.device_id field for:

Onboarding events
Login events
Payment / Banking / Lending events
Any future behavioural event you define

This ensures event-to-profile linking remains consistent across the user lifecycle.

Mobile SDK Guidance

Mobile applications inherently provide more stable identifiers than the browser. For both iOS and Android:

We strongly advise using the Advertising ID as the device_id.

Benefits:

Globally unique per device
Resettable by the user → compliant with privacy expectations
Available before authentication to detect risk during onboarding
Ties user behaviour across apps on the same device (optional advantage)

Ensure the value is passed as:

"device": {
  "device_id": "<advertising-id>",
  "type": "mobile",
  "os": "iOS" or "Android"
}

Best Practices

Best Practice	Why It Matters
Capture device_id before signup/login	Detect returning fraudsters who use new accounts
Use same fingerprint logic across channels	Prevent siloed identity profiles
Store device_id locally & reuse	Avoid fragmentation of the user’s risk profile
Pair with IP + geolocation + device metadata	Improves anomaly and behaviour-based detection

Summary

A Profile is only as strong as the signals tied to it. Device fingerprinting ensures ProfiledRisk can:

Track behavioural risk evolution
Catch repeated fraud behaviours hidden across new accounts
Support higher-confidence automated decisions

This significantly reduces false negatives in fraud detection and false positives against good customers.

​Web Implementation — DeviceGuard SDK

​Integration Example

​Mobile SDK Guidance

​Best Practices

​Summary

Web Implementation — DeviceGuard SDK

Integration Example

Mobile SDK Guidance

Best Practices

Summary