How effective is Proxyrama in masking your true IP address?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the effectiveness of Proxyrama and other proxy services in masking users' true IP addresses. Participants explore various aspects of anonymity online, including the limitations and potential risks associated with using proxies, as well as alternative methods for enhancing privacy.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that Proxyrama successfully masks their IP on most sites but fails on some, suggesting that Java and JavaScript settings may contribute to IP leaks.
  • Another participant recommends configuring browsers to use anonymous proxies from a public list, claiming it works for them.
  • A participant questions whether a specific site reads the proxy's IP or the user's true IP, indicating a desire to verify the effectiveness of the proxy.
  • Concerns are raised about the privacy implications of using proxies, with one participant questioning the trustworthiness of proxy servers and their potential to intercept user data.
  • Another participant argues that proxies may not provide significant privacy benefits, as they can still collect similar information as the websites visited.
  • A participant mentions using a service with a strict privacy policy and encryption for some traffic, expressing uncertainty about its effectiveness.
  • Some participants suggest that the primary purpose of using a proxy is to conceal identity or bypass regional restrictions, while others advocate for VPNs as a more secure alternative.
  • One participant clarifies that IP Chains/IP Tables are unrelated to Proxyrama, indicating a misunderstanding about their functions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the effectiveness and trustworthiness of proxies, with no consensus reached on their overall utility or security. Some participants advocate for proxies, while others raise significant concerns about their limitations and risks.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight various assumptions regarding the effectiveness of proxies, the role of encryption, and the potential for data interception. The discussion includes technical details that may depend on specific configurations and user contexts.

phoenixthoth
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Is anyone familiar with a program like Proxyrama which enables you to create ip chains thus making your ip address appear different than it is?

I tried it to make myself anonymous and it works on most sites I have found that test my ip. When I turn Proxyrama off, they get my true ip and when I turn it back on, they get a different ip (sometimes from places like Iran!).

However, Proxyrama doesn't seem to work on all sites. I found a site that correctly identifies my ip even with Proxyrama on.

When I checked the help file for Proxyrama, it said the most common problem is something to do with Java and/or Javascript being enabled, leading to a direct transmission or "leak" of the true ip. I have turned my Java and Javascript off but I still have the problem with this one site.

Any way you know of to mask my true ip better? (And that's free?)
 
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Can't you just configure your browser to use one of the anonymous/high-anonymity proxies from http://www.publicproxyservers.com/page1.html ?

Seems to work for me :S

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah it works. Make sure you have 'Use the same proxy for all protocols' option selected.

Your Internet connection has no Reverse DNS

Many Internet connection IP addresses are associated with a DNS machine name. (But yours is not.) The presence of "Reverse DNS", which allows the machine name to be retrieved from the IP address, can represent a privacy and possible security concern for Internet consumers since it may uniquely and persistently identify your Internet account — and therefore you — and may disclose other information, such as your geographic location.

When present, reverse DNS is supported by Internet service providers. But no such lookups are possible with your current Internet connection address (65.39.205.213). That's generally a good thing.

:biggrin:
 
I've been curious about those public proxy servers -- but never curious enough to use one.

So what do you do? You just pick one off that list that says it's anonymous or high anonymity and configure your browser to use that as an http proxy?
 
Yeah, but check "Use the same proxy for all protocols" (in firefox).
 
I'm puzzled by this: you want to use a proxy to protect your privacy. So you direct ALL of your web communication through a server run by someone you don't know, and whose motives you don't know.

How do you know that the proxy server isn't doing exactly what you think you are protecting yourself from -- i.e. intercepting your messages, accumulating info about you, etc.?

Is there some point that I'm missing here?
 
No different than proxyrama. Besides, what information can they collect about you? Which sites you visit?
 
I'm not promoting Proxyrama. I'm just questioning the usefulness of proxies in general.

As far as "what information can they collect about you", I suppose the answer to that is: exactly the same information that can be collected by any website you visit. Right? So what purpose is served by the proxy?

I don't mean this as a argument against proxies, either. I just don't understand what they accomplish, and hope that someone who's really knowledgeable about them will explain.
 
  • #10
The service I've been using has a pretty strict privacy policy of not collecting anything, which of course doesn't guarantee anything, but in addition parts of the traffic which might reveal e.g. which URLs you visit are encrypted + cookies are blocked by default. Whether it's effective ... :confused:
 
  • #11
Thanks for the info. I will try it out.
 
  • #12
I thought the only purpose of using a proxy would be to conceal your identity to the website you're visiting, or maybe if you live in some country like err... Iran where they block access to certain sites =/

Or if you want to see how your website handles when you're accessing it outside of your lan.

Shrug.
 
  • #13
I have to agree with gnome. Even with this proxy, your information is still out in clear. Do you think the data from your computer magically jumps to the proxy computer. Heck no, it goes through many datacenters, such as your ISP, which logs the stuff anyway. A better option is use VPN which actually encrypts the payload of a packet. You can still track the packet, but the content is safe. Even with VPN though, your relying on someone to safeguard your information.

Also, IP Chains/IP Tables is the firewall built into the Linux kernel and has nothing to do with proxyrama
 

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