The tables below briefly compare the features offered by proxies found on many proxy sharing websites with various anonymization services. There are no known legitimate and free public HTTP(S) or SOCKS4(a)/5 proxies. HTTP(S) proxies that do not send this header are sometimes called 'elite' or 'anonymous' proxies. If the destination server is not using SSL/TLS, then the entire content of traffic is vulnerable as well.Īs noted above, some open HTTP(S) proxies send the 'HTTP forwarded for' header which discloses a user's IP address. Therefore, the Internet Service Provider or any man-in-the-middle can see connection details, including the destination IP address. There are no known HTTP(S) or SOCKS4(a)/5 proxies that offer an encrypted connection between itself and the user. Therefore, users making requests connect to the proxy and may not be aware of the internal network as the response is returned as if it came from the original server.

Reverse proxies: these connect the Internet to an internal network.

The benefit of these proxies is the ability to cache websites for faster retrieval.

Transparent proxies also reveal their identity as a proxy server, but the originating IP address is accessible due to factors such as the X-Forwarded-For HTTP header.

Anonymous proxies reveal their identity as a proxy server but do not disclose the client's originating IP address.

Open proxies: these forward requests from and to anywhere on the Internet and are accessible by any Internet user.

There are two basic types of proxy server: Proxies were devised to add structure and encapsulation to distributed systems. This serves as a method to simplify or control the complexity of the request, or provide additional benefits such as load balancing, privacy, or security. Instead of connecting directly to a server that can fulfill a requested resource, such as a file or web page for example, the client directs the request to the proxy server, which evaluates the request and performs the required network transactions.

Acting as an intermediary, proxy servers relay your traffic to the destination and send the answer back to you so that the destination server potentially only sees the proxy and not your IP address:

Proxies are famous for 'anonymity on demand'. 3.2.2 Links to Software / Provider and Tests.1.2.2 Anonymization Service Feature Comparison.

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