US 11,687,626 B2
System and method for securing a browser against font usage fingerprinting
Abdelkader Benkreira, Washington, DC (US); Michael Mossoba, Arlington, VA (US); and Joshua Edwards, Philadelphia, PA (US)
Assigned to CAPITAL ONE SERVICES, LLC, McLean, VA (US)
Filed by Capital One Services, LLC, McLean, VA (US)
Filed on Jun. 17, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/904,196.
Prior Publication US 2021/0397679 A1, Dec. 23, 2021
Int. Cl. G06F 3/00 (2006.01); G06F 21/12 (2013.01); G06F 16/958 (2019.01); G06F 40/109 (2020.01); G06F 21/62 (2013.01)
CPC G06F 21/128 (2013.01) [G06F 16/986 (2019.01); G06F 21/6263 (2013.01); G06F 40/109 (2020.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for securing a web browser, the system comprising:
a client computing device comprising a data processor, a data storage module, and a display, the data processor being programmed to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a content server by a web browser operating on the client computing device, a set of display instructions to display web content on the display of the client computing device;
creating a display object using the set of display instructions;
reviewing the display object by the web browser to determine whether one or more instructions of the set of display instructions meet font profiling criteria;
responsive to a determination that font profiling criteria are met, altering the display object by the web browser to change a display of one or more font characters requested in the set of display instructions; and
executing the altered display object,
wherein the font profiling criteria include at least two of the set consisting of
identification of an instruction to display one or more font characters in a manner that is not visible to a user of the client computing device,
identification of an instruction to transmit back to the server dimensional information for the displayed one or more font characters,
identification of an instruction to use a font that has a browser use frequency less than a minimum use frequency, and
identification of instructions to use a number of fonts in excess of a predetermined font usage limit.