MWHC

Peter Garant asked:


Part and parcel of network security, be it in a corporation LAN or school university, is the installation of a firewall or web content filter. However as any user will attest to, this can hamper the flow of work, as it restricts access to websites that actually have bearing on their activity.

Proxy Servers

One can go to the administrator and have the web content filter removed temporarily, but to have to go through this procedure over and over will be tedious. A far more convenient method is to use proxies on proxy servers.

Proxy servers, or websites, allow a user to overcome the website blockade. The process itself is not difficult to comprehend: what goes on is that once you are on a proxy server or site, you enter the address or URL of the blocked site. The site will be displayed in a separate window, and you will be able to access it as you would any normal web page.

Not only do you overcome the web content filter, but your IP address is hidden so that the website you are visiting will not be able to tell who is visiting it. The reason is that it is the proxy server’s IP that will be displayed, and not your computer’s.

Advantages of Using Proxy Servers

Aside from circumventing content filter applications, the proxy server has other benefits, one of them is that because the page being accessed does not directly interact with your computer or the network, there is less danger of having the security breached.

Another advantage is that by accessing the web page from a proxy server, the pages are cached on the proxy site. This is important because it makes retrieval of the page much quicker; instead of reloading a page, which can take time if the network or Internet is busy, the file is loaded from the cache instead.

Proxy Lists

This is very convenient for Web users, but unfortunately, due to its popularity, proxy servers can be difficult to access at times, and there will be some webmasters who will try to block proxy servers. The way to go around this is by going to a proxy list site.

There are several proxy list sites available, but the good ones should be regularly maintained; that is, the contents are updated on a consistent basis. In addition, the contents of the proxy list should also include proxy software, links to other sites, and other vital information.

Setting up a DMZ

As has been shown, there will be times when using proxy servers will be necessary. If you have a firewall, there is no need to disable it just so you can use a proxy. Instead, you can configure the firewall so that there will be a DMZ (demilitarized zone). This term is used to refer to that section of the network system that is not covered by the firewall.

There are several ways that you can configure a DMZ on a network. One of the easiest is to select one of the computers and use it as a go between a firewall and the Internet. It usually entails using a directory on the computer as a DMZ. Check the firewall manual for instructions. Once this is setup, you can use a proxy server, and access all websites, while keeping up your security.

Kallore Gandhi asked:


One of the biggest problems of the internet nowadays is security. Viruses, spyware, spam, trojan horses, malware, adware and of course hacking are the main problems. The largest part of all internet users are unaware of most of these things and will never know their passwords and credit card info might become visible for others. Nothing can give you 100% security, but applying a few easy things will improve online security greatly. Here are some things everyone should do:

Install a virus scanner and firewall

A good virus scanner and firewall are an obligation these days. Do not trust the firewall of your ISP, modem and especially not Microsoft’s firewall. Virus scanners are never already installed on a modem or something, so you have to install one yourself. There are countless virus scanners and firewalls available, but the best ones are McAfee, Norton, AVG and ZoneAlarm. The last two have a great advantage over the first two because they are totally free. I recommend using AVG’s virus scanner and ZoneAlarm’s firewall.

Use a proxy

A proxy server is a server that is meant to hide someone’s IP. Your IP (Internet Protocol) is a number that is unique for every computer and it is static so you cannot change it when you messed things up. If a hacker finds out your IP he or she can get all your info if you are unlucky. This means that it is very important to hide this number. A proxy works like this: normally when you click on a link or a button, the browser sends the info to the web server. With a proxy the info will be sent to the proxy server first, and then to the web server. If the web server retrieves your IP, it will retrieve the IP of the proxy server, not yours. This also works from the web server to your computer. A counterpart of these proxies is that the owner of the proxy server can see all data (including passwords and credit card info for example), so install a proxy of someone you trust.

How to set up a Proxy

It is easy to set up a proxy, but follow the following steps very accurate, because a little fault can resolve into an unsafe proxy, or an error.

Step one: finding a good, anonymous proxy

The first thing you need to do is to find a good proxy. There are free and paid proxies scattered all over the net. Paid proxies are better most of the time (more anonymity), but there are good free ones also. Search for the best and most anonymous proxy that’s out there. To help you a little, here is a list of free proxies. This list is updated every day. Transparent proxies are unsafe, don’t use them. The best proxies are the ones with high anonymity. Choose one that you like.

Step two: install the proxy

After you found your proxy, write the IP and the port of the proxy on a piece of paper. The process of installing a proxy varies from browser to browser, so I will explain the installation process for Internet Explorer only. After you have opened Internet Explorer, go to Internet Options and then click on the Connections tab. Select the LAN Settings button if you have a LAN or DSL connection, or if you have a dial-up connection, choose your connection and click the Settings button. From there, enable use a proxy server and type the proxy IP and port in the address and port fields. Click OK twice and you’re done.

Step three: monitor the proxy

This step is often forgotten by a lot of people. Proxies, especially free ones, tend to disappear, quit working or become transparent. Of course you don’t want this to happen, so check your proxy every now and then (I recommend to check at least every month) to be sure you will stay anonymous.

Peter Nisbet asked:


Facebook proxy bypass servers are necessary if you have some reason to hide the IP address either of your internet connection, or of the site to which you are trying to connect. Why should anybody want to do this, and how do Facebook proxy providers work?

Why Use a Proxy Bypass?

If you work for an employer and have unmonitored internet access, then you can be barred from accessing certain IP addresses, such as those of the commonly used social networking sites. Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube are the more common sites that employees tend to visit in company time. Your employer can stop this by preventing your computer from accessing the internet (IP) addresses of these sites.

If you have internet access at school, college or university, you will be even less supervised than at work, and few students have not tried to use school or college computers to access social networking sites. There again, the relevant IP addresses have a block or filter placed on them which only a proxy bypass can circumvent.

A block generally refers to a blanket bar placed on the entire network accessing specific addresses, while filters permit access to individual terminals, the users of which might have a legitimate use for them. Most sites are filtered while a few can be blocked, and a Facebook proxy might be needed by a student, for example, but not a faculty member.

The target websites themselves can place blocks on individual IP addresses, and if Friendster or Facebook has banned you and your internet address for some reason, then you can’t even re-register using a different name and email address unless you get a new internet connection with a different IP address. Facebook proxy bypass servers can enable you to re-register without changing your IP address. You can also access your home page using your regular login details.

How a Facebook Proxy Bypass Server Works

If computer A connects to website B, then the IP address of both A and B are known to each other. All it takes to sever that connection is for either to block the other. However, if A connects to site C, and C connects to B, neither A nor B sees each other - they both see only IP address C.

Therefore, a block or filter against B will not be triggered by the address of C, to which you are connected. Neither will any block place by B on A be triggered, because as far as B is concerned it is connected to C and not A. The term ‘proxy bypass’ is therefore a bit of a misnomer because it is more of a proxy ‘router’; many different computers can be rerouted by a central connection to a number of social websites (or any type of website in fact).

For example, if you are finding it difficult to connect to a specific website, such as a search engine, you can do so through a proxy. The principle behind a Facebook proxy is just the same as that of you connecting your computer to a router in a network to connect to the internet - all computers connected to that router will have the same IP address, and when you use a modem attached to your computer to bypass the router through a different internet connection, you will have a different IP address.

Proxy bypass sites don’t last forever. Once they have been detected and also blocked, you have to find another. However they can last for a long time, and new Facebook proxies are coming online as fast as they are being blocked. For that reason you should find a site that offers you a number of alternatives.

So next time you have difficulty accessing a specific website, whether it is Facebook, YouTube or anything else a proxy can help you. Bear in mind that they are rarely specific, and take the form of an address bar into which you enter the internet address of the site you want to access. In the case of a Facebook proxy bypass server you enter the Facebook address, but it usually also works with any other website address.

Facebook proxy bypass servers allow you to access any sites that have blocked by your school, college or employer. An understanding of how they work will enable you to make best of use of them, not just for Facebook, but also Friendster, MySpace and any other website you are unable to access directly.

Stefan Jechel asked:


The Internet proxy server is the server that is situated between the client application and an actual server. The Internet proxy server has the role of intercepting every request to the actual server and see if the request can be fulfilled by it. If that is not possible, then it must forward the request to the other server.

If used in an enterprise the Internet proxy server besides the role that it plays in all situations, also have the role of ensuring control and security. This Internet proxy server is linked to a gateway server. This has the role of separating the network of the enterprise from other networks. The Internet proxy server is also associated with a firewall server that is used to protect the network of the enterprise from any intrusions from the outside.

The Internet proxy server receives requests from web pages or any other Internet services from the user. Then if the filtering requirements are passed, the Internet proxy server checks its cache for other downloaded pages( this assuming that the Internet proxy server is a cache server as well ). If the web pages that are required are then found by the Internet proxy server, they are returned to the user. In this case there is no need for the Internet proxy server to forward the request. In case the page can not be found in the cache, then the Internet proxy server must act as a client as thus use its own IP address to request the web page from other servers that are found on the Internet. When the required page is then returned, the Internet proxy server reports it to the initial request and then it is forwarded to the user.

In the users eye, the Internet proxy server seems to be invisible. This is because the request and the response are so quick that the user is under the impression that they are made directly with the Internet server that was addressed. However, this is not the case and the Internet proxy server actually plays a very important part.

There are two main reasons why Internet proxy servers are used. One is to improve the performance and the second to filter the requests. The Internet proxy server can improve the performance for users, because the Internet proxy server actually saves all the requests that the user has made, thus making Internet operations a lot faster. The second reason why Internet proxy servers are used is to filter requests. This operation might be seen in schools or workplaces, where the employees are not allowed to visit certain web sites. This can be very easily done by configuring the Internet proxy server that is used.

For more resources about Internet Proxy Server please review this website http://www.19proxy.com

Gen Wright asked:


A proxy server is a computer system or an application program that helps in forwarding client’s requests to different servers. The client wishes for certain services (websites) from a different server and to achieve this, the data is fetched by the proxy server.

Web based proxies are engineered by server-side software. These may include CGI proxy, PHP proxy and Glype. The proxies operate through a web browser. You can hide your IP address and surf without letting others know of your presence. All that would be required to do this is to go to the homepage of the web browser and key in a URL in the URL form.

A CGI based proxy maneuvers with a document that you request. This means that it manipulates each of its elements and objects as well. This is no mean task and hence many web-based proxies fail in the given role. Few services are rendered incompatible with the web page code. Others are slow and erroneous in nature.

Despite few negative points, web based proxies have gained much popularity as they are easy to use. Open proxies are those which are unintentionally left open and thus easily maneuverable on the web. One great advantage of web proxies is their multi-compatibility. They can be incorporated in any web page. Hackers often intrude web proxies and run modified signals through them. This way the proxy server becomes units for further malice. Open proxies can be easily turned into an instrument of deceit, fraud, illegitimacy and money laundering.

Many students and office goers access unwarranted sites from their offices. In all such cases it becomes really difficult for the authorities to keep an eye on what?s going on under their eye. One great way is to align the entire service to a web-based proxy.

A proxy that is affiliated to the World Wide Web is called ?web Proxy?. What shall be done to block MySpace for example? Web proxies generally perform the job of web caching. Most of such proxies refuse access to certain URL?s which are blacklisted. This allows for content filtering. Such measures are applied in a corporate unit. Presently even the small business houses use Linux. This means that the operations of web-based proxies are not attached to large business houses only. Few web proxies have been known to redesign web pages aligned to the needs of a particular audience. Now with the help of these proxies, a school or office surrounding can cut out MySpace or Face Book completely.

Those web proxy servers that filter content bestow control of administration over a content, which might be run through a proxy. Internet is bound to such terms and conditions in commercial organizations, which see to such fire walling procedures properly. Apart from blacklisting, URL regex filtering and MIME filtering are two top-notch processes.

The proxies who filter contents utilize user authentication for web access. It also deals in various kinds of logs for bestowing information on accessed URL or bandwidth overview.

Proxies can easily be un-utilized by shrewd online criminals. They can decode dataflow between the web and the client machine.

Bryan Halverson asked:


Are you trying to access a certain website but can’t because it’s blocked and are trying to determine if you can do it anonymously? Many aren’t aware that when you are traveling through websites you are actually leaving a little trail along the way. Hackers would be able to follow you around easily and see everything you visit if they are good at it. Now with the new advancements of the Internet though you can finally access those blocked websites and stop leaving a trail by being anonymous with the use of web proxy sites.

Now you are probably wondering what a web proxy site is exactly. A proxy site is known to allow you to travel around websites anonymously and finally be able to get into those sites that happen to have a content filter on them. You’ll now have the opportunity to go through many websites by using a web proxy site.

Currently there are several proxy sites available that are quite dependable. By going to one of these proxy sites you can now go through visiting all the sites you want by simply typing in the URL of the website you are trying to access. By simply typing in the address to the website your real IP address will no longer be tracked and you’ll have all your information protected meaning you are officially anonymously browsing through the Internet.

Don’t get me wrong this can be quite beneficial for some wanting to hide their information, but of course there are going to be various risks involved by surfing the Internet through a web proxy site. There are many proxy sites out there that are actually malicious sites that are going to record all the information you place in, such as logins and passwords, and then make use of them. This is one of the biggest risks using proxy sites for surfing around as it can be difficult knowing which ones are malicious and which ones are not.

There are many proxy sites out there that will take advantage of you taking all your personal and restricted information and sell it off to other websites making it quite risky to provide any information while using a web proxy site.

When you are selecting a web proxy site to utilize you should be very careful. Try sticking with web proxy sites that have an SSL tunnel or also a TLS tunnel. These are usually the most reliable proxy sites available as it prevents your information from being stolen. Also when selecting a proxy site make sure that it will actually support the protocol that you need, whether it’s FTP or HTTP.

For those wanting to get into blocked sites or become entirely anonymous while surfing the web you could make great use out of web proxy sites. Just ensure that when you are using a web proxy site that you are very careful with the information you distribute and the security measures that particular web proxy site has or you could find your personal and restricted information getting into the wrong hands quickly.

Jason Chan asked:


A proxy server is a computer that offers a computer network service to allow clients to make indirect network connections to other network services. A client connects to the proxy server, then requests a connection, file, or other resource available on a different server. The proxy provides the resource either by connecting to the specified server or by serving it from a cache. In some cases, the proxy may alter the client’s request or the server’s response for various purposes.

Web proxy servers are generally classified into four groups: Transparent, Anonymous, Distorting, and High Anonymity. Transparent proxies identify themselves as a proxy server and also makes the original IP address available through the http headers. Anonymous proxies identify themselves as a proxy server but does not disclose the original IP address. Distorting proxies identify themselves as a proxy server, but make an incorrect original IP address available through the http headers. High Anonymity proxies do not identify themselves are proxy servers and do not reveal the original IP address.

When it comes to security the bottom line is to be wary when using proxy servers, and only use proxy servers of known integrity (e.g., the owner is known and trusted, has a clear privacy policy, etc.), and never use proxy servers of unknown integrity. If there is no choice but to use unknown proxy servers, do not pass any private information (unless it is properly encrypted) through the proxy.

If you are in the habit of using proxy servers and are unsure of their type you can visit whatismyipaddress.com and try the proxy tester to see if your proxy server is detectable.

jamiehanson asked:


proxy?

Have you ever come across a problem like whenever you are trying to open a website it is getting blocked and the error message that is showing up is about some content filter which is not finding the contents of the website authentic and viewable?

This is when a proxy site comes into the picture. They allow you to go through the websites overcoming the blocks. Basically the proxy sites are the ones that ids meant for the convenience of the end users. The proxy servers can help you in various ways. They generally work on behalf of the particular allocated clients and also help the users.

Advantages of proxy

You must have heard about the firewalls which often come in between the end user and the source of connection. They filter the contents and then cater then to you. This is basically made to stop the hackers. The proxy server somewhat relates to the same purpose but they work on it in a slightly different way.

They follow the mechanism of storing and then forwarding. They terminate the source internet connection that is supposed to come to the users and creates a separate connection with the destination. The proxy servers are capable of serving a number of users at the same time.

Using a proxy server you can surf the internet without getting in touch with the internet connection directly. This is the reason you can maintain your privacy with the proxy servers. There are many big service providers like VSNL and AOL which employs the proxy servers to serve their customers who opt for the dial-up plans.

Types of proxy

There are various types of proxy servers. Some of the proxy services fall under the firewall services and some of them work independently. Generally there are three types of proxy servers- Generic proxy, Circuit proxy and SOCKS. The generic proxy always comes with the firewall packages and they provide you with a facility of having a local address even if you are in a remote destination.

Their service is often independent of the situations and applications. The circuit proxies can be considered as a particular type of generic proxy. But they are very helpful when you need too interact with multiple clients virtually and access the client’s connection.

The last one SOCKS was launched in the year of 1991. Though this server comes with the facility of various client libraries but there are certain demerits of this proxy.