AdGuard Names 6,000+ Web Trackers That Use CNAME Chicanery
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:
AdGuard on Thursday published a list of more than 6,000 CNAME-based trackers so they can be incorporated into content-blocking filters.
CNAME tracking is a way to configure DNS records to erase the distinction between code and assets from a publisher's (first-party) domain and tracking scripts on that site that call a server on an advertiser's (third-party) domain. Such domain cloaking - obscuring who controls a domain - undoes privacy defenses, like the blocking of third-party cookies, by making third-party assets look like they're associated with the first-party domain.
[...] The most commonly detected CNAME trackers, according to the researchers, come from the following companies, in order of prevalence: Pardot, Adobe Experience Cloud, Act-On Software, Oracle Eloqua, Eulerian, Webtrekk, Ingenious Technologies, TraceDock, LiveIntent, AT Internet, Criteo, Keyade, and Wizaly.
[...] "In order to prevent it you'll need to use a content blocker that can access DNS queries," Andrey Meshkov, CEO of AdGuard, told The Register.
"The whole problem is that the majority of users don't use them and just stick to Chrome or Safari browsers with extensions. These users can only 'react' to the problem, they can only start blocking a new disguised tracker as soon as we detect it on AdGuard DNS and update the list."
Meshkov acknowledged that this is not a proactive approach, but it works within the existing system for applying filtering lists to content blockers.
[Ed Note: I use and can recommend Pi-hole for your home network. That doesn't help though when you're on the road unless you VPN back to your home network first. - Fnord]
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