TekMonkey.org

This post is a repost of an earlier article written by myself.

With rising privacy and anonymity concerns on the Internet, many users are turning to proxy solutions. Below are a few free methods that can be used to anonymize yourself on the Internet.

Method 1: Using a web-based proxy

The easiest and quickest way to become anonymous while browsing is to use a web-based proxy. This simply means, accessing a website that then redirects your requests through itself.

There are plenty of web-based proxies out there, free of use. Off the top of my head, I thought of Lite Proxy, Oh My Proxy!, and ConcealMe, all of which are reliable web proxies that should be accessible for anyone. But if you want more options than just these three, there is a method you can try to find a large number of web proxies.

This method utilizes Google to search for all websites that use proxying software. First, we’ll search for all websites using the CGIProxy by simply typing “inurl:nph-proxy.cgi” and hitting search. This alone returns about 102,000 options for you to choose from. If you’re still not satisfied with that, you can search for websites using PHProxy by typing “inurl:phproxy” or “intitle:phproxy”.

Method 2: HTTP Proxy with a browser

If you’re looking for a more permanent solution that you might want to use on a day-to-day basis, a HTTP proxy can be used with your internet browser.

Personally, I recommend using Mozilla Firefox with the SwitchProxy extension. SwitchProxy allows you to easily and switch between multiple proxy configurations and allows you to use lists of proxies to alternate between.

Now, you’re probably asking where to get the list of proxies from. Well, you can find several proxy lists by searching Google, but that’s about all I’m going to tell you.

If you don’t wish to use SwitchProxy with Firefox, you can manually set the HTTP proxy you wish to connect through.

In Firefox, click on the Tools menu and open the Options dialog. From there, make sure the tab is set to General and click the “Connection Settings…” button. In the HTTP Proxy box, you’ll type the IP Address of the proxy you want to use and type port 80 or port 8080 depending on whether or not the proxy server uses SSL.

If you’re using IE, this can be done just as simply. Go to Tools, then Internet Options. There, click the Connections tab. Then click the LAN Settings button. Look down to the second half where the Proxy server settings are and check the box that says “Use a proxy server for your LAN (These settings will not apply to dial-up or VPN connections). And as the boxes are enabled, enter in the IP address and port of the proxy server you wish to use.

Method 3: Tor

Tor is a system (that is supported by the EFF) that allows anonymous communications with many applications (web browsing, instant messaging, IRC, BitTorrent, etc.). The application is run on the client’s computer and then traffic routed through Tor’s “onion routers”, keeping you anonymous.

The Tor website already contains very comprehensive documentation, detailing the installation and configuration of Tor, so I won’t bother trying to explain it in this short blurb.

Hopefully, the methods I’ve discussed can serve of some purpose to people concerned about their anonymity on the web. Also, understand that there are other alternatives, including hardware solutions that can be costly (which are probably only necessary for the very paranoid and/or those dealing in situations of questionable legality).

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