What is IESnare?

Have you heard of IESnare? This spyware (also known as MPSnare) is probably telling bookmakers whether you are comparing odds, arbing and what other bookies you use. Developed by Iovation, the spyware is a pioneer in the industry of preventing Internet fraud and is widely used by the betting industry.

It’s highly controversial, borderline illegal in some instances, yet many punters haven’t heard of it. IESnare is installed onto your computer (or phone/tablet) without your knowledge and permission. In some cases, it might be installed even if you don’t have an account with the bookmaker, but are just visiting their website. Once there, IESnare monitors your online activities, likes pages you visit, but also computer’s installation data and information from you registry, and sends over the information.

Why should you be worried? Technically, the purpose of IESnare is to prevent fraudulent activities. It monitors the activity, sending data to a central hub, creating your ‘digital fingerprint’ (also called ‘cookieless’). This data is then shared with ALL IESnare protected networks. It can then be interpreted by the business and used to limit or even deny access.

Bookmakers use the spyware to detect multi-accounting, usage of matched betting software and many more. It helps them restrict or even close winning players, even if the actions of those players are completely legal.

Yet, the information collected by IESnare, is not used solely for that. It serves other purposes as well - including malware and spam. This spyware seriously affects user privacy, to say the least.

How to check if you have it?

To find if you already have the nasty spyware on your device:

1. Go to the File Search function on your computer

2. Enter ‘mpsnare’ into the search box

If IESnare is installed, you will see one of the following folders:

- #ci-mpsnare.iovation.com

- #mpsnare.iesnare.com

- ci-mpsnare.iovation.com

- mpsnare.iesnare.com

How to get rid of it?

Delete all existing folders and it will no longer be there. Problem is: bookmakers will likely install it again, so you need to block it manually or through the use of anti-spyware software.

Here’s a good article that shows how to block IESnare manually.