Five Questions For Ori Eisen, CEO And Founder Of The 41st Parameter

Photograph by Jon Gipe

1

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
The 41st Parameter's TimeDiff Linking technology correlates parameters from a PC, including the difference in time between the browser's local time and the server's time, to build a fingerprint of the device. "We talk to the device you're using, not to you," Eisen says. A billing address in New York, while the PC's time zone is set to Indonesia, raises a red flag.

2

FRAUD MALL
The Web provides cost savings for financial institutions, but it also provides criminals with all they need to steal identities and money. "Banks can provide you with images of your checks online in order to provide convenience, but this gives fraudsters all the credentials they need to milk your account. It can lead to the perfect crime." Crooks can either counterfeit the checks or conduct online transactions using the account information.

3

COMFORTABLY NUMB
Eisen, a self-taught guitar player who's been playing for 20 years, owns a 1971 Gibson Les Paul guitar engraved by Paul himself, as well as a 2003 Les Paul given to him by the Gibson guitar company as thanks for helping the instrument innovator develop the idea for a self-tuning guitar. "For the past 18 years I've been trying to figure out 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd."

4

D'OH!
Eisen says he's written two episodes for The Simpsons and sent them to Gracie Films, the cartoon's production company. The scripts were rejected, but Eisen vows to keep writing them. "I like the fact that my 4-year-old can watch it, and I watch it, and we both laugh at different things."

5

ANTI-CRIME CRUSADE
Eisen has donated software and time to help law enforcement catch child pornographers. His technology does this by looking for online merchant accounts that sell a small number of items within a certain price range, indicating they're charging for a subscription. Legal merchants tend to have tens, hundreds, or thousands of products and many price ranges.