Autofill is a function found in some computer applications or programs, typically those containing forms, which prefills a field automatically and can save a user time.
A
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
's autofill feature is used to fill out
forms
Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens.
Form also refers to:
*Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter data
* ...
with previously entered values, or a predetermined value. This feature is commonly used to fill in login credentials.
Description
Autofill is frequently found in
web browser
A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
s, used to fill in
web forms
A webform, web form or HTML form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a server for processing. Forms can resemble paper or database forms because web users fill out the forms using checkboxes, radio buttons, or text fields. F ...
automatically. When a user inputs data into a form and subsequently submits it, the web browser will often save the form's contents by default.
However, when a password field is detected, the web browser will typically ask the user for explicit confirmation before saving the password in its password store, often secured with a built-in
password manager
A password manager is a computer program that allows users to store and manage their passwords for local applications and online services. In many cases software used to manage passwords allow also generate strong passwords and fill forms. Pas ...
to allow the use of a "master password" before credentials can be autofilled.
Most of the time, such as in Internet Explorer and Google Toolbar, the entries depend on the form field's name, so as to not enter street names in a last name field or vice versa. For this use, proposed names for such form fields, in earlier HTML 5 specifications this RFC is no longer referenced, thus leaving the selection of names up to each browser's implementation.
Certain web browsers such as
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
automatically autofill
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
information and
addresses.
In HTML
An individual webpage may enable or disable browser autofill by default. This is done in
HTML
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScri ...
with the
autocomplete attribute in a
<form> element or its corresponding form elements.
Phishing
It has been shown that the autofill feature of modern browsers can be exploited in a
phishing
Phishing is a type of social engineering where an attacker sends a fraudulent (e.g., spoofed, fake, or otherwise deceptive) message designed to trick a person into revealing sensitive information to the attacker or to deploy malicious softwar ...
attack with the use of hidden form fields, which allows
personal information
Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person.
The abbreviation PII is widely accepted in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates ha ...
such as the user's phone number to be collected.
See also
*
Autocomplete
Autocomplete, or word completion, is a feature in which an application predicts the rest of a word a user is typing. In Android and iOS smartphones, this is called predictive text. In graphical user interfaces, users can typically press the tab ...
*
Autocorrect
Autocorrection, also known as text replacement, replace-as-you-type or simply autocorrect, is an automatic data validation function commonly found in word processors and text editing interfaces for smartphones and tablet computers. Its principal ...
References
External links
*
*
PCMag Encyclopedia entry* The autofill section of th
Web browsers
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