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                x420 Security Presents -+- Proxies Made Easy      
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                             http://x420.cjb.net                 
          
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   What is a Proxy Server? How can I hide my IP while I'm surfing the web? 

   Often I've been asked the above questions and I've even asked them myself. 
A proxy server is a machine dedicated to handling Web accesses and storing
copies of documents on a local disk. A Proxy sits on a gateway and passes
application traffic across it. Proxy software may or may nor appear 
transparent to the user. 

   You may not like visiting web sites that gather information about your 
self. Say you want to leave a nasty flame on a Forum or send a nasty e-mail 
to say bill gates of course you don't want it any information to be traced 
back to you. By using a proxy server you can start surfing the Web leaving 
traces as if you are from Bulgaria, Canada, Slovakia, or somewhere else.

   How do I use a Proxy Server? You need to set up your web browser to 
connect to a  proxy server. In Netscape 3.0 Gold click on Options and then 
Network Preferences then the Tab that says Proxies, select Manual Proxy 
Configuration and then press the button that says View. Then fill in the Text 
Field HTTP proxy with the URL of the proxy and the port number. Now your all 
set and ready to start surfing anonymously.


   WARNING: Proxy servers may not to be completely anonymous. Some may give 
out the IP you are connecting from of course it all depends on how bad 
someone wants to find you and what you are doing viz the proxy. Almost all 
ISP's keep logs to some extent, which can be had with a search warrant. 

   What kind of Proxy Servers are there? 

 Public Proxies: These are provided as a service, either to help speed up     
your connection through their huge caches or to provide a filtering   
service to filter out what some people consider "harmful", "obscene" or       
"violent" material.

 Open/Accessible Proxies: These servers that have proxies that are accessible 
to the public, for one reason or another are open. 

 Anonymous Proxies: These servers offer anonymous proxy services, some of
them are pay services.    


   You can chain proxies togeather to make yourself much harder to trace; 
although your connection may end up being fairly slow. Set up your browser to 
use Proxy A, and you know the addresses and port numbers of 2 more servers 
Proxy B and Proxy C. The URL that you type shouldlook something like that: 

  http://proxyB:port/http://proxyC:port/http://www.destination.domain/

   You will go to your destination site via 3 servers: A, B and C. 

 --------  Not all proxy servers will allow you to chain proxys. ---------

   Why can't I connect to pages using a proxy?  

   Common reasons include, your provider denies access becuase they 
censor/filter content. 

   You are behind a firewall or LAN and must use your servers proxy. 

   The proxy you are trying to use is very slow or down. 

 
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                             1998 - Forever
             This dosn't mean you can't redistribute this document 
                        We just want some credit