How to Surf the Web Anonymously
If you wish to conceal your identity in real life, you need only to shove a paper bag over your head and alter your voice. Voilà, instant anonymity! But it’s not as easy to lurk in the shadows online a savvy surfer can dig up all kinds of information about you, from your name and address to your social security number. And it doesn’t take a sophisticated stalker to track you down; chances are, you’ve left behind a trail even a first year Boy Scout could follow.
What You Need
* Internet Connection
* XeroBank Browser
* Proxy IP Address
1. Surf with an Anonymizer
In the online world, a web proxy acts as your Internet agent and requests information from websites on your behalf. The website in turn communicates with the proxy, which then passes the information back to you. Meanwhile, your IP address stays concealed and the website has no idea how to get in contact with you directly.
The easiest way to run with a proxy is through one of the many free websites offering anonymous web surfing. There’s no setup involved, and they all run right from your browser. But be warned: This convenience comes at the expense of speed, and not all websites play nice with proxies. Plus, if you choose a proxy at random, you could fall prey to a site designed to steal your information, not protect it. All proxy sites carry this risk, but Proxify (free, http://proxify.com/) has a good reputation, and its registration information matches a Whois lookup, providing a level of reassurance.
Head over to Proxify and simply enter the web address of the site you want to view in the text box. Proxify also lets you select from three preconfigured options tailored toward maximum speed, security, or compatibility. If you think you can do better yourself, you can manually tweak the settings, opting to remove cookies, ads, scripts, and referrer information, or select any combination that best suits your surfing habits. You can verify that the proxy’s working its cloaking mojo by visiting www.whatismyipaddress.com and making sure it’s not broadcasting your real IP address.
2. Manually Configure a Proxy
Using a free online anonymizer can be a boon when you want to surf stealthily without any setup hassles, but you sacrifice speed and functionality. Some services impose a steady stream of advertising, and almost all of them throttle your connection speed or refuse to work during peak usage. Subscriptions are available, but why pay a fee when you can manually configure your browser to hide your identity for free?
To get a list of available proxies, navigate to http://tinyurl.com/p0pj. Here, you can sort proxies by various criteria, but pay special attention to the IP details, which include information about HTTPS (SSL) support and uptime percentages. It’s possible for a hacker to set up a proxy as a trap, so treat these IPs as anonymous connections—not secure ones on which you’d enter bank account or other personal information.
With the IP address and port in hand, Internet Explorer users should click Tools and select Internet Options. In the Connections tab, click the LAN settings button. Check both boxes under the Proxy server heading, input the IP address and port you just recorded, and save your settings.
Proxy_Setup
Both Firefox and IE7 make it easy to configure yourbrowser to use a proxy, but you may need to periodically change the IP address if the server goes offline.
If you’re running Firefox, click Tools and select Options. Click the Advanced icon, select the Network tab, and click Settings. Highlight the Manual Proxy Configuration radio button and input the IP address and port. Before exiting, be sure to check the box that reads “Use this proxy server for all protocols.”
What You Need
* Internet Connection
* XeroBank Browser
* Proxy IP Address
1. Surf with an Anonymizer
In the online world, a web proxy acts as your Internet agent and requests information from websites on your behalf. The website in turn communicates with the proxy, which then passes the information back to you. Meanwhile, your IP address stays concealed and the website has no idea how to get in contact with you directly.
The easiest way to run with a proxy is through one of the many free websites offering anonymous web surfing. There’s no setup involved, and they all run right from your browser. But be warned: This convenience comes at the expense of speed, and not all websites play nice with proxies. Plus, if you choose a proxy at random, you could fall prey to a site designed to steal your information, not protect it. All proxy sites carry this risk, but Proxify (free, http://proxify.com/) has a good reputation, and its registration information matches a Whois lookup, providing a level of reassurance.
Head over to Proxify and simply enter the web address of the site you want to view in the text box. Proxify also lets you select from three preconfigured options tailored toward maximum speed, security, or compatibility. If you think you can do better yourself, you can manually tweak the settings, opting to remove cookies, ads, scripts, and referrer information, or select any combination that best suits your surfing habits. You can verify that the proxy’s working its cloaking mojo by visiting www.whatismyipaddress.com and making sure it’s not broadcasting your real IP address.
2. Manually Configure a Proxy
Using a free online anonymizer can be a boon when you want to surf stealthily without any setup hassles, but you sacrifice speed and functionality. Some services impose a steady stream of advertising, and almost all of them throttle your connection speed or refuse to work during peak usage. Subscriptions are available, but why pay a fee when you can manually configure your browser to hide your identity for free?
To get a list of available proxies, navigate to http://tinyurl.com/p0pj. Here, you can sort proxies by various criteria, but pay special attention to the IP details, which include information about HTTPS (SSL) support and uptime percentages. It’s possible for a hacker to set up a proxy as a trap, so treat these IPs as anonymous connections—not secure ones on which you’d enter bank account or other personal information.
With the IP address and port in hand, Internet Explorer users should click Tools and select Internet Options. In the Connections tab, click the LAN settings button. Check both boxes under the Proxy server heading, input the IP address and port you just recorded, and save your settings.
Proxy_Setup
Both Firefox and IE7 make it easy to configure yourbrowser to use a proxy, but you may need to periodically change the IP address if the server goes offline.
If you’re running Firefox, click Tools and select Options. Click the Advanced icon, select the Network tab, and click Settings. Highlight the Manual Proxy Configuration radio button and input the IP address and port. Before exiting, be sure to check the box that reads “Use this proxy server for all protocols.”
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