Device Intelligence Overview
Updated on 23.01.26
7 minutes to read
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Overview
We like to say that emails are digital passports. But just as in the real world, having a passport is only half the story. Unique features, such as fingerprints, are vital to identifying someone. Device fingerprinting is to email addresses, what our fingerprints are to passports. Identify and track suspicious users with ease using SEON's targeted anti-fraud device intelligence solutions.
What is device intelligence?
Device intelligence is the process of collecting information about the device a customer is using to access your service. Device fingerprinting solutions are small, lightweight code snippets you can integrate into your website or app.
When a customer uses your service, the device they are using has to share a lot of information with your servers to display the site or app properly. This includes practical data points like the screen resolution, what fonts are available in the browser, and more technical ones, such as the browser version and cookie preferences.
Device intelligence vs. device fingerprinting
Device intelligence and device fingerprinting are integral components in the ongoing battle against online deception and fraudulent activities. Device fingerprinting is the process of generating unique identifiers for individual devices based on various attributes and configurations. These identifiers serve as a means of distinguishing one device from another within a network or ecosystem.
On the other hand, device intelligence expands beyond mere identification to encompass a comprehensive analysis that examines user behaviors, usage patterns and device interactions to gain deeper insights and understand risk profiles. While device fingerprinting creates identifiers for devices, device intelligence utilizes these identifiers and other data sources to identify standard device setups to fraudsters’ tool stacks and facilitate better anti-fraud decision-making.
How does device intelligence support fraud prevention?
By collecting this information, you can spot suspicious users and bots before they access your platform. You can also couple device fingerprinting with SEON's powerful Scoring Engine to unleash SEON's full fraud-fighting potential.
iGaming operators, for example, rely on SEON to block multi-accounters. Powerful device fingerprinting unlocks a wealth of information about user devices, while hashes help spot when several users are using the same device – a tell-tale sign of the profiles being handled by the same person.
Device Intelligence is also vital in preventing account takeover attacks that can result in fraudulent orders placed at online stores. When a user logs in from a new device (and maybe even a different country), your guard should be up. While it shouldn’t be automatically considered an attack, it's worth challenging them to complete multi-factor authentication.
Why is SEON's device intelligence unique?
It's designed and dedicated to fighting fraud. Not all device intelligence solutions are equal or designed for the same purpose. Our hashes are uniquely designed to help you spot suspicious activity.
What's more, you can integrate our device intelligence solutions with SEON's powerful Fraud API, and you'll have a completely customizable fraud prevention powerhouse at your fingertips.
We know it's rough out there – and we're always happy to help.
What can you uncover with SEON's device intelligence?
SEON’s device intelligence provides a comprehensive set of signals to help you accurately identify devices and detect fraud.
At the foundation of this capability are multiple device identifiers that work together to give you both high-level visibility and granular insight. Cookie, browser, and device hashes combine device characteristics into stable identifiers that allow you to recognize patterns, spot inconsistencies, and identify attempts to obscure device identity.
Device hash - The device hash is a foundational identifier derived from device-level attributes. While it is not always fully unique, for example, two users may share the same device hash if they are using identical smartphone models, it is highly effective for detecting anomalies. Reused or inconsistent device hashes can indicate attempts to conceal or manipulate device information. When using the JavaScript Agent, device hashes provide reliable baseline identification. With the iOS or Android SDKs, the device hash is a highly unique identifier.
Browser hash – The browser hash is derived from browser-specific attributes and is usually unique to a single device. In rare edge cases, two users may share the same browser hash, such as when identical smartphone models are running the same browser version. Even in these cases, a browser hash match is a strong indicator that the same device is being used.
Cookie hash – The cookie hash is a highly unique identifier generated from all cookies stored on a device. A match between two cookie hashes would require every cookie on both devices to be identical, making collisions extremely unlikely. When cookie hashes match, it is certain that the same device is involved.
Beyond hashes, SEON’s device intelligence includes a rich set of contextual signals. These include operating system and browser versions, device type, emulator and spoofing detection, and, depending on the integration, additional data points such as screen resolution, charging status, and system uptime. The most relevant signals will vary by industry and use case, and should be reviewed and adjusted over time to maintain effectiveness.
How to get started
SEON's device intelligence tools must be integrated into your website or mobile app to collect device information.
Once you've integrated device intelligence, you'll also have to enable the module in your Fraud API requests.
An easy way to get started is by checking out the default rules that rely on device intelligence. Of course, you can also add any device data points to custom rules to get the most out of your data.