subject: Will A Secure Proxy Server Protect Me Online ? [print this page] It certainly can do, a secure proxy is a very important step in protecting yourself online. The problem is most people this all proxies are equally as secure, which couldn't be further from the truth. The fact is that the proxies that are available online for free are amongst themost insecure proxies on the planet. They are generally a mix of misconfigured servers accidently opened up to the internet, hacked servers which people install proxy software on or worst simply traps to steal passwords and account names.
If you pick an insecure proxy, you'll be doing more harm than good. The internet is full of identity thieves, some working with huge criminal gangs with plenty of resources. They have realised the huge gains and limited risks of electronic fraud and theft. The risks are minimal compared to the conventional crime and even less when you can set yourself up in a distant country with lax information laws and ineffective police. Electronic crime and identity theft offer these huge rewards, those rewards keep growing as a the communication revolution of the internet continues.
One of the main issues is fundamental to your browsing and that is that most of it happens in clear ascii text. So that's everything that leaves your computer and travels across the web is instantly readable by anyone who happens to intercept it. Where can it be intercepted, well the most obvious is the ISP logs which contains a complete log of everything you do online. There are lots of other places of course but a favourite trick is the free anonymous proxy. It's quite simple and very clever simply buy, rent or hack into a server, install some proxy server and them advertise it on the net as a free secure proxy server. It doesn't take long before thousands of people flock to use the server and you have lots of clear data flowing through the server. Swicth it to caching mode or enable some logging software and you can record everything - user accounts, login details, passwords you name it.
A quick and simple way not only to steal personal data but to actually have people send it directly to you in the name of anonymity !
Remember always the adage - 'you get what you pay for' - proxy servers cost a lot of money to supply. A free anonymous proxy quickly gets very expensive, so why would someone pay a fortune to allow everybody to use a free anonymous proxy. Well the simple answer is they usually do it by mistake and accidentally leave the proxy open, or they do it on purpose and steal your details in payment.
Be very careful that the secure proxy server you choose to protect your browsing is a proper secure professional server not a free one run by a bunch of eastern european hackers.
by: Jim Rjindael
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