There are entire websites on the internet dedicated to finding and identifying new anonymous proxy servers that go online. It’s hard to believe someone is so nice that they would incur huge bandwidth charges so that complete strangers can surf the web anonymously.

As you would have thought, it’s not true. These servers usually appear due to a faulty configuration of internet programs such as Squid, or even just a slip of memory; not patching their server.

The fact is these servers are opened by accident, or by more criminal means. Why would people risk their internet privacy on these sketchy, unreliable sources?

During an HTTP transfer of information that occurs when a user surfs the web, their IP address is shown to the website in order to transfer information. This also allows a website to track its traffic by user. If the website isn’t a trusted one, they could use your information for criminal means.

When one uses an anonymous proxy server, they can truly travel the Internet in total privacy. The proxy will be the IP seen entering the site, and not yours! This eliminates all possibility of being tracked, and the proxy can go even further. It can delete all logs of your activities off of its logs, and then truly it will be like the web session never even happened. The only thing to worry about is whether the website will recognize that the proxy is indeed a proxy, and it would block you from visiting. If you are using a professional proxy that requires some kind of fee though, rest assured this should not happen to you.

According to Computerworld, an irate Arkansas man posted information that he found on his PulaskiWatch website.  This sensitive information was gleaned from emails from a county clerk and nine other government officials. All of the information was found through public records. Other sensitive information on Virginia officials was also posted by a watchdog group called the Virginia Watchdog. Sadly, the group doesn’t seem to be working well.

The man who posted the information, Bill Phillips, did so because he had a point to prove to county officials.  Phillips is the owner of PulaskiWatch and found out that officials had posted circuit court records which showed such information as voided checks, Social Security numbers and even bank account numbers. In retaliation, Phillips searched thousands of office-related emails he found on the Internet and posted what he found.  A few of the emails that were acquired by Computerworld contained sensitive information. Two examples of the content are, first, a woman who left their employ because she feared for her safety.  A dangerous looking man was loitering in the parking lot. The second example was how much salary to pay two employees who had been recently demoted.  In addition, Phillips posted each county employee’s name, salary and the date hired.  He appears to be only retaliating on county officials and not posting sensitive information like they did.  Information of that nature has already been posted on the Pulaski County site before, and once is more than enough.  As a side note, students that work for the elections will make $7.50 an hour. Yes, that was in one of the emails as well.

An Ohio woman is suing the county clerk because her identity was stolen. And it was stolen because an image of a speeding ticket, complete with her personal identification was placed on the Internet at the county website.

Initially, Cynthia Lambert’s case was dismissed and she had no recourse.  Her identity was just stolen and that’s all there was to it.  But last week she found out she could reinstate her claim.  The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, Greg Hartmann, was in violation of Ohio’s Privacy Act when he posted the sensitive information online.

Ms. Lambert received the ticket in September of 2003.  The ticket contained her name, driver’s license number, birth date, social security number, address and her signature.  That is an Identity thief’s dream come true.  All that information could easily be used to take out loans, apply for credit card or open other accounts which can then be used freely without repercussions, as long as they aren’t caught.  They usually aren’t.  All the defaults become the burden of the person whose identity has been stolen.

China continuously seems to be putting themselves in the bull’s eye these days because of its love affair with Internet censorship.  The latest fiasco, reported by TheWest.com.au, is that a public relations company representing the Chinese milk-producing company, Sanlu, asked China’s largest search engine, Baidu, to block any negative publicity about milk that’s been tainted.  That’s called CENSORSHIP.  And they didn’t ask once, but twice.

To sweeten the pot, the company made a deal to buy advertising from this search engine to the tune of $640,000, as long as they continued to censor anything negative about the milk scandal.  I’m sure you’ve heard of it.  Thousands of young children being hospitalized with kidney illness after drinking watered-down milk boosted with “melamine’ to give it more protein.  Four infants died.  This stuff is 66% Nitrogen and flame retardant.  It can be turned into glue, plastic and other products.  It contains no nutritional value whatsoever.  Unfortunately, it is commonly used to hide low protein levels in products.

Everyone knows that our world has become digital.  Many of us earn incomes from working on the internet, manage bank accounts and even pay our bills online.  People who were once afraid of computers are now discovering how to use them because they are so integral to our lives. Unfortunately, the opportunists are out there ready to snap up unguarded personal information at a moment’s notice.  What they do with this information can make a Nightmare on Elm Street seem like a walk in the park.  You have to be very careful about the information you leave behind when you’re on the internet.

Here are a few protective measures you can take to protect your privacy online.

1. Teach your children that it is dangerous to put personal information on the internet.  Home addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers are some of the very personal information uninformed children my give out that can result in identity theft.  It is very important to explain to your children the dangers of giving out information on the web and set boundaries.

When traveling, one of the main questions people ask when booking a hotel is, “Is there Internet available?”  Usually the answer is yes.  That is because we are up to our chins in the technical era.  We can’t get by without our computers and have to have access wherever we go.  Unfortunately this convenience of Internet at hotels can become tarnished because of internet security and privacy issues.  A report issued by Government Computer News tackles this topic.

Having access to the internet helps you to be more productive when traveling, and keeps you in touch with those who are important to you. But one has to wonder how safe the internet connections you’re using really are. According to the experts, they aren’t very safe at all.
Information was gathered from 47 hotels and other properties by researchers, and the results were quite eye-opening.

In this day and age, it seems everything is about information.  Every time you enter a keystroke online, someone is paying attention, your activities saved, logged and relegated to databases.  Usually, the info gathered is harmless, meant to make your surfing quicker and more enjoyable.  But it pays to know when you’re at risk and how to protect your Internet Privacy when necessary.

Anytime you connect to the Internet, no matter by what method, you have an electronic signature.  This is your Internet Protocol Address, also known as an IP address.  This is how the web knows who you are, where you are and the location of your computer information.  An IP address appears as a simple string of numbers, but this string of numbers can allow any website to save information about you and recognize you on your return. You can hide your address on the internet by using certain websites to substitute another IP number for your own.  There are also way to protect your computer at home from unwanted visitors.

A customer was experiencing difficulties posting advertisements on the internet. Every ad he posted was being ghosted. He went through the proper procedures required for using the anonymous proxy service, changed his ads and cleared his cookies, but he still had the problem.  He inquired if the servers were non-static and changing his IP address.  We checked to make sure the Private Proxy was working properly, then set about solving the mystery concerning his ghosted ads.

We recreated the conditions under which he posted, placing our own ads, which were not ghosted.  We examined each server for IP flagging, but all the addresses came back clean.

We discovered that the email address our customer used was the culprit. Other customers have reported similar problems, and their difficulties were the result of entirely different issues, such as their cookies.  There are many ways to track internet users.  We’ve compiled a list of suggestion on ways to protect your anonymous status online below.

When you send emails or go browsing on the web, there is more going on than just visiting sites or sending out messages.  First, your Internet communications are full of information such as headers.  Deep packet inspection is a process that captures and reads through your internet activities and collects details about the formatting, as well as reads the actual emails or web site you visit.  In other words, deep packet inspection software can gather the information used by your computer without your knowledge or permission.

Your communications can contain financial information, log-ins, personal details and other information that makes it possible for your identity to be compromised by criminals and your accounts to be assessed.  This is a major problem.

According to several periodicals, such as CIO magazine, the use of DPI or Deep Packet Inspection is being reviewed by Congress, and possibly will be rendered illegal.  Although no one is champing at the bit to claim they are using this technology, your employer, your ISP and criminals all have the necessary tools to use this method to inspect your Internet activity.

Although they mean well, Congress is notoriously slow on passing legislation, and you don’t have time to wait for their findings.  Waiting could have devastating results.  But there is an immediate solution available, and that is to use an anonymous proxy for all your internet activity.  It will encrypt your communications and that can defeat or delay any deep packet inspection activity.

This is one of those situations where depending on others to protect you is not the best approach.  Digital thieves are everywhere.  Protect yourself and use an anonymous internet proxy.  Privacy is not a given on the internet.  It’s usually what’s taken.