[November 05, 2012]

Veracode Educates Consumers About the Online Tracks They Leave Behind

Veracode, Inc., the leader in cloud-based application security testing, released a new infographic, "How Companies Track You on the Web: The Tracks You Leave on the Internet," today that suggests elected officials and users should pay more attention to how companies are tracking our actions on the Web. With the online advertising market predicted to grow to $50B in 2014 and the proliferation of new tracking techniques, concerns have increased over the tracking tactics employed and the sheer volume of data being captured and stored about every Internet user.

Veracode's infographic illustrates how privacy transference has evolved into a major problem for consumers who willingly give information to businesses online, but do not expect it to be shared, sold or used for marketing purposes. Online users click through and digitally sign user agreements every day, many of which give web properties the rights to share any and all data with third parties. This includes social networks, games, software as a service solutions, and especially, free mobile device applications.

"It is amazingly easy for Internet companies to gather detailed information about their consumers. It's done through cookies, affiliate websites, calls to HTML5 local storage, pixel trackers and just plain purchasing consumer information for a specific audience," said Chris Wysopal, CTO, Veracode. "Nearly every website is tracking you in some way, and this infographic aims to alert consumers of this fact and suggest some tools they can use to protect their personal data while surfing the Web."

Consumerscan get proactive about their privacy by:

• Installing a browser plugin like Collusion to see which companies are tracking you online.
• Deleting browser cookies every day.
• Installing plugins that block cookies.
• Using a Virtual Private network (VPN) to add another layer to your path to the internet.
• Voicing concerns to their elected representatives when privacy issues are up for vote.

"The Tracks You Leave on the Internet" infographic is available for download from the Veracode site. Interested parties have permission to embed and share the infographic on their websites or blogs with attribution.

About Veracode

Veracode is the only independent provider of cloud-based application intelligence and security verification services. The Veracode platform provides the fastest, most comprehensive solution to improve the security of internally developed, purchased or outsourced software applications and third-party components. By combining patented static, dynamic and manual testing, extensive eLearning capabilities, and advanced application analytics, Veracode enables scalable, policy-driven application risk management programs that help identify and eradicate numerous vulnerabilities by leveraging best-in-class technologies from vulnerability scanning to penetration testing and static code analysis. Veracode delivers unbiased proof of application security to stakeholders across the software supply chain while supporting independent audit and compliance requirements for all applications no matter how they are deployed, via the web, mobile or in the cloud. Veracode works with customers in more than 80 countries worldwide representing Global 2000 brands. For more information, visit www.veracode.com, follow on Twitter (News - Alert): @Veracode or read the Veracode Blog.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]