Proxies for Iran: A Global Effort
“Renesys”, a company that analyzes and studies network connections and their locations have reported that the creation of proxy servers around the world and their use by Iranians has been slowing down lately. The government is catching on; the use of these proxies and their advertising is so public that the government has no problem blocking their citizens from using them. Although the government is finally becoming aware of these proxies, it truly is a global effort to produce them and allow their users anonymous and secure browsing.
Almost two thousand proxies have been created and shared by users all around the globe. Old proxies are being found by the Iranian government and blocked, and by identifying key characteristics of proxies, they are able to identify and shut down new ones just as quickly. This active oppression of its citizens blocks their political struggle and any other injustices from the rest of the world. This just shows how important it is for people in free countries to create proxies for the less fortunate to use.
Renesys explains how proxies function: They are a piece of software you install or a website you visit. Either one protects your identity and allows you uncensored Internet access. The website or computer you are going to acts as a middle-man in the website to computer exchange. The website or software changes your IP address, which acts as a nametag for your computer, to something different, and therefore, stops you from being tracked. When you go through a proxy server, the proxy goes and gets the website you requested, and brings it you. The proxy doesn’t know anyone is behind the scenes pulling the strings either. In fact, if someone were to access your browsing history, all they would see is the name of the proxy site over and over again.
Although the U.S.A. had a large amount of proxies running from it due to its widespread democracy and freedom, many other countries were represented as well. India, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Vietnam, and surprisingly, China, who has the biggest problem with Internet censorship of all! (Ever heard of “The Great Firewall of China?”) In all, there were almost eighty-seven countries running anonymous proxies for less-than-democratic nation’s citizens to enjoy and browse anonymously on. This truly shows that the use and creation of proxies is a world-wide effort, and everyone is involved.
Renesys has some advice for those who wish to help and create an anonymous proxy. First, they say not to wait until “tanks are in the streets” to take action and create one, because governments are most suspicious then and will be searching doggedly to find those trying to evade their security laws. And lastly, research ways to make your proxy not look like a proxy, because oftentimes these governments have a list of characteristics to look for in a proxy, and when they find them they will block it. If your proxy doesn’t exhibit these characteristics however, they will think it is a normal Internet connection and not block or censor you.
If you wish to take the steps to step up a proxy and help a friend overseas, do some research and figure out how to configure it well to make it anonymous, secure, and most of all, remain as a pseudo-proxy. It all comes down to this: if they don’t think you are a proxy server, they won’t block you!
