YouPorn.com at Top of History-Sniffing List

SAN DIEGO — Researchers say YouPorn.com is at the top of a list that reveals sites that use a technique that exploits a browser bug revealing all places where surfers go.

Computer science researchers surveyed 50,000 of the web's most-visited sites and found 485 sites using a history-tracking bug. In all, 63 sites were copying the data it reveals and 46 were found to be hijacking a user's history.

"Many of these websites seem to try to obfuscate what they are doing," UC San Diego researchers wrote in the paper, "An Empirical Study of Privacy-Violating Information Flows in JavaScript Web Applications."

"For example, the inspected URLs on YouPorn.com are listed in the JavaScript source in encoded form and decoded right before they are used. On other websites, the history-sniffing JavaScript is not statically inserted in a web page, but dynamically generated in a way that makes it hard to understand that history sniffing is occurring by just looking at the static code.

"We also found that many of these websites make use of a handful of third-party history-sniffing libraries."

The researchers also looked at other popular techniques that sites use to map and monitor what visitors do.

In the case of YouPorn, operators run scripts that track the trail a user's mouse pointer takes on and across pages.

Operators of YouPorn.com, which is owned by Curacao-based Midstream Media International N.V., did not respond by post time to XBIZ for comment on the findings.

YouPorn operators also own YouPornGay.com and YouPornCocks, which also were on the UC San Diego study's history-sniffing list.

The study also revealed YouPorn's attack code.

Chrome and Safari, researchers said, are not vulnerable to history hijacking and that the most recent version of Firefox has closed loopholes. Internet Explorer users can turn on "private browsing" to stop the flaw from divulging histories.

"Our study shows that popular Web 2.0 applications like mashups, aggregators, and sophisticated ad targeting are rife with different kinds of privacy-violating flows," the researchers wrote.

View Study on Web History Sniffing

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

FSC Publishes Analysis of Federal Trade Commission Event Promoting AV

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has published an analysis of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) event held this week that promoted age verification among other forms of speech regulation.

GirlsDoPorn Owner Michael Pratt Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking

Michael Pratt, former owner of the rogue website GirlsDoPorn, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Thursday to sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking charges, according to a report by City News Service.

Master Nico Relaunches Site Through YourPaysitePartner

Master Nico has relaunched his official website through YourPaysitePartner (YPP).

Federal Judge Grants Partial Halt of Florida AV Law

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, has granted a preliminary injunction against HB 3, the state's age verification law, as a lawsuit filed by two online trade associations challenging the law makes its way through the courts.

Aylo Releases Statement on Suspending Access to Pornhub in France

Technology and media company Aylo, which operates adult sites including Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube, has released a public statement regarding its decision to block access to its sites in France.

Pineapple Support to Host Wellness Sessions at Bucharest Summit

Pineapple Support is hosting free group and one-on-one therapy sessions at Bucharest Summit, June 3-5.

Pornhub Blocks Access in France in Response to SREN Law

Pornhub parent company Aylo has opted to block access to its sites in France rather than comply with age verification requirements under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law.

ASACP Highlights Study on Parental Controls

The Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) is highlighting the results of a study on the underutilization of parental controls.

Sydney Screams Launches New Site Through Grooby's Blue.xxx

Sydney Screams has launched her new membership site, SydneyScreams.xxx, through Grooby's website management company Blue.xxx.

Mistress Mystii Is LoyalFans' 'Featured Creator' for June

LoyalFans has named Mistress Mystii as its Featured Creator for June.

Show More