Using an Anonymous Web Proxy Server or Not

A lot of people consider using anonymous web proxy servers to be a good way to protect themselves while surfing the Internet while increasing your online security at the same time. But online users should also remember that there are good and bad parts with using anonymous proxy servers. For example, you have probably used a proxy server at work or school. A proxy server is a computer that is used to send and get online requests. When you are at work, your requests for an online page is sent to the proxy server which then sends out the online page and gives it back to your browser.

There are numerous benefits that a web proxy server offers like cache duplicates of popular sites to improve surfing speed. Aside from that, requests for online pages can also be monitored so that inappropriate content can be blocked. It gives your employer or school officials power to control what you surf through a specific connection. For those individuals who would like to keep their online surfing private from prying eyes like identity thieves and hackers, anonymous proxy servers offer the chance of privacy. Because it is the server that requests the online page and gives it back to the user then the only data in the logs of the online server you visit is the IP address of the anonymous proxy server. Unknown proxy servers will also not give the X Forwarded For header which would usually feature your IP address so there is no data of your IP address on the web server.

Although an anonymous web proxy server can protect your online identity to some degree there are some disadvantages with it such as: a lot of anonymous proxy servers on the web are infected proxy servers that are made to infect viruses or spyware on thew computers of anyone who utilizes them.

Aside from that, the owner of the online server will be unaware that it is being used as a web proxy server. Anonymous web proxy servers can be very slow as you are sending your page request to the online server first which gives it to the online page. Most of your web activity is in text which can be intercepted by anyone who wishes to spy on your activities.

In the end, it will be up to you on whether you want to use an anonymous web proxy server. Just remember to weigh the pros and cons of this procedure before deciding on whether or not to use it.