The line of javascript that collaborators add to a webpage does several things. After checking that Microsoft Internet Explorer is viewing the page it adds some HTML to the page. This includes an invisible iFrame. An iFrame is like a standard HTML frame, but it can be placed within a document. The javascript then adds an event handler for the onclick event of the document.



When the document fires an onclick event the event handler for the document redirects the URL of the iFrame to an Active Server Page (ASP) on the iconico server. It passes arguments for the X and Y position of the click with the URL. While the ASP is logging the position of the click to the server, the HTML page processes the click, as it would normally do, for example following a hyperlink.

The screensaver executable, which was written in Delphi, checks the iconico server via HTTP every five minutes. If a new click has been logged, then a new fingerprint is rendered on the screen.