The Anatomy of An Anonymous Proxy

We live in an age of many concerns and fears. Children aren’t allowed to play outside anymore as they were ten years ago for fear of being stolen by some interloper patrolling the neighborhood. People are now given intensive scans at the airport for everything from knives, to drugs, to guns. Even your loved ones waiting to greet you are not allowed to come up to the terminals anymore, instead having to wait outside in the crowded lobbies and baggage claims. The Internet has also changed. Once there was only a few sites to go on, and nobody knew a thing about spy ware or malware. People sent e-mails and went on sites in a totally blissful and carefree manner, but that soon changed.

With the advent of the “Information Generation”, people flocked to the Internet for its unlimited resources and its great exploring potential. People began to have virtual lives online, living vicariously through games or social networking sites. The Internet unknowingly conglomerated with television through YouTube, and is currently putting television on its last legs. Even the drudging commute to work is becoming archaic, and being replaced by the coffee-fueled masses that earn their bread working from home.

America has always been a land of change, as well as freedom. Right now, we are in the middle of another Industrial Revolution; although perhaps it will appear in history textbooks as the Technology Revolution. As the people evolved and changed their habits, so did the inventive criminals. Crime has always been a plaguing leech on America’s side, but one that is inevitable by the amount of freedom each citizen enjoys. Although criminals are often stereotypically portrayed as completely ignorant, uneducated low lives, they know quite some about their art; it is their chosen profession. They follow people and find out where they are most unprotected and will strike there when the opportunity arises. They also factor in how likely it is that they will be caught.

When everyone began using the Internet, criminals began to see that this was an excellent new avenue for them to exploit. Instead of having to rob someone in a suspicious back alley or on a crowded subway train, they could do so surreptitiously online, without even a trace of fear. A robber mugging someone in an alley will be plagued by the screams of his victim, and most likely caught by police as he tries to escape. An Internet hacker who hacks into an innocent person’s bank account online will not have to worry about the victim screaming for help, nor about a quick escape. It is likely the victim won’t even know that they have been robbed until months later, and by then the criminals will be gone, without a shred of evidence left behind.

You may think that these criminals have to be rogue N.S.A agents to be able to hack into your computer, but the truth is, it isn’t that difficult. All the thief needs is access to your Internet communications.

How do you hide it then? Obviously you don’t want a criminal breaking into your computer and stealing your data and secret information. The best way to do so is by using an anonymous proxy server.

There are two kinds of anonymous proxy servers; web-based, and software-based. A web-based proxy is the most common that people use, and the ones most commonly made. These can be accessed by just doing a brief Google search of “anonymous proxy”; you will get a ton of results. By going onto one of these sites, you will see a new URL box (where you type in the website you wish to go to) that will be able to be typed in. Simply type in the website you actually wished to visit and the proxy will act as a middleman, going and retrieving the website for you. This will ensure that no record of the website being visited remains on your computer, no tracking cookies have been planted, and your identity is kept completely anonymous. Remember that your IP address contains your location and other identifying information, so the proxy has effectively kept you safe.

That all sounds good; but it is not all that it seems. Any proxy server is operated by one particular person, or a group of people. While you may be hidden from the rest of the web, the owners of the proxy can see everything and everyone’s real IP address that flows through their network. Anyone can configure and set-up a web proxy. Although some of these people might be hosting one to help out a friend living in a less-than-democratic country, the chances are slim of this, and it would probably be private. The bottom line is, bandwidth costs major money, and with so many people on one server, the owner is likely to accumulate quite a large bill at the end of the month. Most people lose their philanthropic spirit after their bank account is emptied by other people. These proxies are often free, which raises some eyebrows, and correctly so. Oftentimes, these web-based proxies are run by hackers and criminals to lazy to break into people’s computers, so they have their prey come to them. These people are under false pretenses that they are safe on these hacked servers, but the truth, is a hacker is diligently recording and watching all of their bank transactions, log-ins, and other private information. It is not too big of a stretch to think that these people are dipping into their unknowing consumers accounts to keep their proxy going.

The other kind of anonymous proxy is called a software based proxy. These are similar to web-based proxies in theory, but differ in practice. As their names denote, web-based proxies are done by accessing an Internet site, while software-based proxies are used by downloading something into your computer. These proxies also differ in one more major manner; they are usually fee-based. This usually turns some people running to the hills for a free-web based proxy, but the truth is, you get what you pay for. Remember, proxies cost money, and you are paying in one way or another if you don’t do so up front. By paying a small monthly fee, (your child has enough money in their piggy bank) you can be ensured that the proxy will guarantee anonymous surfing and browsing for as long as you use it. These also are much faster that free web proxies too, as the software based ones will have more servers to disperse traffic, while a web proxy will keep all of its users on one server, sometimes slowing traffic to a haul. Another plus is that you won’t see incessant amounts of random advertisement. If the web proxy isn’t stealing from you, they will likely fill your retrieved page with all sorts of advertisements and other garbage that decreases your anonymous browsing experience.

Both proxies have their ups and downs, but a software based proxy is the way to go if you can spare just a couple of dollars a month. It is worth it to know no hacker is intercepting all of your documents and compromising your anonymous surfing experience. Identity thieves hang out on web proxies, and can cause some serious privacy issues. A web proxy should only be used when surfing on a public computer where you want to bypass some sort of institute instated blockade. Use software proxies for your home and work computers where you wish to bypass any Internet censorship your boss might have instated, hide your IP address, and make sure you are enjoying an anonymous browsing experience through your secure tunnel of access.

Don’t be baited by a hacker and use a web-based proxy unless you are on a public computer; use an anonymous software based proxy and get the Internet privacy you need in the “Information Generation.”

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