Do you think that surfing the net is a relatively anonymous process?
Well.. think again.
Big Brother Is Always Watching You
Whenever you request a web page a large amount of information about you gets logged, including your IP address, browser type, ISP and even your location.
Likewise, if you surf the web at work, then employers can utilise the same information in order to determine the exact websites that you have been visiting!
I’m sure for some workplace surfers this could undoubtedly lead to certain levels of embarrassment!
Anonymous Surfing
Truly anonymous internet surfing is, for most people, a pipedream.
There are various tools available which will allow organisations to see through even a proxy in order to determine the true information about a surfer.
However, such tools are generally only employed by big business and governmental organisations.
Therefore, the average internet user can take some steps to hide their IP address whilst surfing by utilising an anonymous proxy.
Whilst hiding behind a proxy your communications can still be intercepted though it is far less likely to happen unless someone is deliberately targeting you.
However, not all proxies are created equal, and some are run by less than honest webmasters.
Hidden Costs
Many people will scan the search engines looking for a free proxy rather than one that has to be paid for.
Unfortunately as is often true, anything that is free on the internet often comes with a hidden cost.
Whilst the proxy that is chosen may well hide personal information from the websites being visited, that data may still be logged by the proxy itself.
Cyber criminals have discovered the value of such information and have put their own proxies onto the web in order to capture such private data.
Therefore, if you do not choose the right proxy then you may, in fact, be giving up your privacy to just the sought of people you wished to remain hidden from in the first place.
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Excellent point. I’ve been saying the same thing for years. Free proxies are potentially dangerous. When you don’t know who is behind the proxy, it’s easy to get scammed. We’ve written an article on the subject for our users titled: “Beware of FREE Anonymous Proxy Servers”.
This had got me thinking cos I always though proxies were totally anonymous. Think I may have to take my time choosing the right one to use in the future.
That’s probably not a bad idea Toby.
That’s an article that is well worth a look folks.
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