Anonymous Internet Surfing by Proxy

Some people think that they are on the web they are relatively anonymous internet surfing. I’m afraid nothing could be further from the truth, when you request a web page all the information is passed to your web browser in clear text, your IP address is left in the web server logs and it would be relatively trivial to find out who and were you lived from that information from your ISP.

BUT I’m afraid there’s more if you surf at work, your employer will have a full and exact list of all websites accessed, how long and when they were accessed. I have sat in security meetings with huge charts displayed on the wall with the exact web sites that employees have accessed during the previous month and I can tell you there are some amazing sites!

Do these people know they can be traced ?   I suspect not as they certainly wouldn’t be surfing those sort of sites at work if they did.

What is a Proxy Server?

A proxy server is an intermediary server that acts as a gateway between a user’s device and the internet. It serves as a middleman by forwarding requests from the user to the target server and relaying the responses back to the user.

Proxy servers can have various purposes and functionalities. They can provide anonymity by hiding the user’s IP address, making it appear as if the requests are originating from the proxy server itself. This helps to protect the user’s identity and location.

Proxy servers can also be used for caching, which involves storing frequently accessed web content on the server. When a user requests that content, the proxy server can retrieve it from its cache instead of fetching it from the original server, resulting in faster response times and reduced bandwidth usage.

Furthermore, proxy servers can be employed for content filtering, allowing administrators to restrict access to certain websites or content based on predefined rules. They can also be utilized to bypass internet censorship or access geo-restricted content by routing the requests through servers located in different regions.

Overall, proxy servers provide various benefits such as improved security, privacy, caching, and access control, making them a useful tool in network management and online browsing.

Using a Proxy to Stay Anonymous Online

Anonymous Internet surfing by default simply doesn’t happen but it is possible. The most basic way of protecting your identity is to use an anonymous proxy to hide your IP address when you are surfing. Your communications can still be intercepted as the majority of that web traffic is in the clear but it’s less likely unless someone is deliberately targeting you, the main benefit is that your IP address is not left in the logs of the web servers and your web browsing will remain more private.

This is where many people make a really big mistake, this is what usually happens;

1. • User decides they want keep their surfing anonymous

 

• • They search the internet for information and discover about anonymous proxies

 

• • They look for a list of free anonymous proxies and find one near them

 

• • They add the anonymous proxy settings to their internet browser and feel much more secure and private!

Free Proxies Will Not Keep you Anonymous

Unfortunately as is often true, anything that is free on the internet often comes with a hidden cost. Our privacy seeking internet surfer is indeed now masking their IP address from web servers they visit, all the logs will store the IP address of the proxy server as that is what is actually visiting the web site. The Proxy server is then passing back all the requests back to the user, all the users web traffic now goes through this proxy server.

Of course many hacking groups realize the value of proxy servers for privacy and it is why you’ll often find these lists prepared by hacking groups themselves then carefully allowed to drift out onto the internet by various means.

Our hapless surfer may come across one of the many lists which are riddled by hacked servers which have had proxy servers installed onto them (usually without the owners knowledge). These servers specifically are monitored and data logged – you are in fact sending all your web traffic directly to a bunch of criminals or hackers, not such a great idea.

Pay for Proper Proxy Protection

This really happens and more often than you think so please if you are going to use an anonymous proxy, make sure it is legitimate and the owner can be trusted. Don’t just use a free one you found on an internet list – not only will you have a limited anonymous internet surfing capability, you could very well be sending all data to a bunch of Eastern European Identity Thieves.

Of course there are commercial and secure services that can secure your identity and protect your privacy. I use a service which completely encrypts my who data stream with a US Military grade cipher (AES) and then uses a selection of high speed private proxies to make my browsing completely secure and anonymous and also safe from anyone who tries to eavesdrop – I think I’ve looked at nearly all of the products on the market and believe Idenity Cloaker is a class apart from anything else.