Mask your IP Address – Highly Anonymous Proxy

It’s now quite a common requirement for people who spend a lot of time online. Having a single IP address linked directly to your physical location is hugely restrictive especially for those who travel or work online.  You may be blocked, filtered or restricted by your IP address or limited to single accounts on things like social media platforms.  Being able to access multiple IP addresses through the use of proxies and VPNs means that you can actually take back some of the control.

There is a huge benefit to masking your IP address to retain some elements of privacy. That IP address that you get assigned is basically your ID card on the internet and is linked to the very computer you are using.

This is why people search for highly anonymous proxies on the internet but alas they seem to end up with exactly the opposite in many instances.

But let me be straight if you want to keep your web surfing private from hackers, governments, identity thieves and the myriad snoopers on the internet you will actually need to use a proxy server. The benefit it gives is that when you use a proxy, it is the proxy IP address that will be recorded on the web server you visit and not yours.

Anonymous Proxies go a little further, they do not send the X-Forwarded_For Header which would normally contain your IP address in a normal proxy server set up. This is another great boost to remaining anonymous and meaning that every time you download a web page from a site, you don’t leave your IP address behind in exchange.

An Anonymous IP Address

Now before you dash off and look for the nearest list of free anonymous proxy servers there’s a few things you really need to know.

• • Many of the free anonymous proxies are just hacked or infected servers. Mostly the real owners will be unaware of their use (until they get the bandwidth bill)

 

• • Anonymous Proxies can be extremely slow unless they are carefully maintained and monitored.

 

• • These proxies only shield your identity from one place – the target web server. All your details are logged in many other places including at your ISP (who have a complete list of your browsing)

 

• • Unless you encrypt your connection all your browsing happens in clear text

 

This list could be much, much longer but the point to remember is that an anonymous proxy server is only a small component of keeping your surfing private. In fact, if you end up using one run by hackers (and there are many) you’ll actually be worse off. Do your research and check out who owns the proxy site and make sure it is legitimate – the vast majority of free anonymous proxy servers are extremely insecure.

Ok so let’s have a look at a secure set up which improves your security by using an anonymous proxy server. The illustration shows the encryption layer via an SSH tunnel between your client and the proxy server port – that you get when you use Identity Cloaker. This means that all the web sites you visit are not logged in your ISP and at every point before the proxy server is reached. This is essential to proper security and anonymous proxies simply don’t give you that protection alone. It also protects your data from hackers and anyone intercepting communication between you and the proxy site.

This is real security the web site you visit has no record of your visit and your entire web surfing happens without trace.  What’s more you can hide your location from any website you visit to.  This means you can hide or spoof your location to bypass different blocks as well. So, by using a United Kingdom based proxy you can access resources normally limited to UK residents for example.

Be safe online and surf securely. Remember a free proxy is never going to be a highly anonymous proxy and more than likely to be a severe security risk to your data. So, when you’re running proxy checkers and flicking through the endless list of free proxy lists, be careful on plenty of them hackers are waiting to log your every move.