Web Bug - Revision history

MalwareZero: /* How to Detect Web Bugs */ Added Opera to list of Ghostery-supported browsers

2014-03-04T20:38:39Z

‎How to Detect Web Bugs: Added Opera to list of Ghostery-supported browsers

Nixiewot at 22:55, 12 February 2012

2012-02-12T22:55:04Z

Bob Zenith: Created page with "A web bug (also called a web beacon, tracking bug, tracker, tracking pixel, pixel tag, clear gif, and 1×1 gif) is an object that is embedded in a web page (usually in order to t…"

2010-08-16T18:40:31Z

Created page with "A web bug (also called a web beacon, tracking bug, tracker, tracking pixel, pixel tag, clear gif, and 1×1 gif) is an object that is embedded in a web page (usually in order to t…"

New page

A web bug (also called a web beacon, tracking bug, tracker, tracking pixel, pixel tag, clear gif, and 1×1 gif) is an object that is embedded in a web page (usually in order to track the page's popularity) or e-mail (usually in order to track when an email is read / opened) and is usually invisible to the user but allows checking that a user has viewed the page or e-mail. A web bug is commonly categorized as [[Spyware]].

== Detecting Web Bugs ==

Without help, web bugs are very difficult to detect and block. The reason is that they are very small (usually 1x1 pixel) and that they are invisible when viewing the web page.
One way to detect a web bug is to look at a page's source code: if you see that a IMG tag loaded from a different server than the other ones, then you will know that web bug is on the page you are on. A web bug is loaded from a different server so that they are easily distinguished from regular GIF files.
Another way to detect web bugs is to use an add-on called [http://www.ghostery.com Ghostery] (for Mozilla Firefox (recommended), Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome).

== Necessity of a Privacy Policy ==

If your website uses web bugs, for whatever reason, this needs to mentioned in your site's [[Privacy Policy]].

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 Without help, web bugs are very difficult to detect and block. The reason is that they are very small (usually 1x1 pixel) and that they are invisible when viewing the web page.
 === How to Detect Web Bugs ===
-One way to detect a web bug is to look at a page's source code: if you see an IMG tag loaded from a different server than the other ones, then you will know that a web bug is on the page you are on. Web bugs are loaded from a different server so that they are easily distinguished from regular GIFs. You can also use the [http://www.ghostery.com Ghostery] addon for Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome.
+One way to detect a web bug is to look at a page's source code: if you see an IMG tag loaded from a different server than the other ones, then you will know that a web bug is on the page you are on. Web bugs are loaded from a different server so that they are easily distinguished from regular GIFs. You can also use the [http://www.ghostery.com Ghostery] addon for Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Opera.
 == Necessity of a Privacy Policy  ==
 If your website uses web bugs, for whatever reason, this needs to mentioned in your site's [[Privacy Policy]].

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-A web bug (also called a web beacon, tracking bug, tracker, tracking pixel, pixel tag, clear gif, and 1×1 gif) is an object that is embedded in a web page (usually in order to track the page's popularity) or e-mail (usually in order to track when an email is read / opened) and is usually invisible to the user but allows checking that a user has viewed the page or e-mail. A web bug is commonly categorized as [[Spyware]].
+A web bug (the same term as web beacons, tracking bugs, trackers, tracking pixels, pixel tags, clear GIFs, and 1×1 GIFs) is an object embedded in a web page (usually to track the page's popularity) or e-mail (often to track when an email is read/opened) and is normally invisible to the user but allows checking that a user has viewed the page or e-mail. Web bugs are commonly categorized as [[Spyware]].
 == Detecting Web Bugs ==
 Without help, web bugs are very difficult to detect and block. The reason is that they are very small (usually 1x1 pixel) and that they are invisible when viewing the web page.
-Without help, web bugs are very difficult to detect and block. The reason is that they are very small (usually 1x1 pixel) and that they are invisible when viewing the web page.
+=== How to Detect Web Bugs ===
-One way to detect a web bug is to look at a page's source code: if you see that a IMG tag loaded from a different server than the other ones, then you will know that web bug is on the page you are on. A web bug is loaded from a different server so that they are easily distinguished from regular GIF files.
+One way to detect a web bug is to look at a page's source code: if you see an IMG tag loaded from a different server than the other ones, then you will know that a web bug is on the page you are on. Web bugs are loaded from a different server so that they are easily distinguished from regular GIFs. You can also use the [http://www.ghostery.com Ghostery] addon for Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome.