Whenever you surf the web, you’re leaving a trail, and the trail is a lot more inclusive than you may think. What’s the harm? Well, here are just some of the things that can be easily tracked:
- Online travels/clicks
- Your operating system
- Browser type
It gets worse:
- Your machine name (knowing this can be more damaging than you may think)
- Last sites you’ve visited,
- History list
- Gain access to delve into your cache
- Your IP address and use that to learn basic information about you such as your geographic location and more.
Unless you take action, your life is an open book to a growing list of bad types that may turn you and your identity into a target.
Although it’s not possible to be truly anonymous online without paying a token amount to a proxy service… but once you’re in, it’s very simple to surf anonymously and keep your identity and information secure. A service such as Proxify, which keeps your IP address concealed, helps you search without being identified.
“But I use anti-virus and privacy software! I’m safe.”
You may not like it, but your IP (Internet Protocol) address makes it very simple for anyone with a little bit of special knowledge to track your activity. Who would want to do this?
- Law enforcement (if you’re breaking the law, stop here and don’t learn any more. You should get caught).
- Your insurance company – oh yes, you broke your ankle skydiving but told them you fell out of a tree. But you were online at the drop zone and posted some cool stuff without using your name, right? Wrong, if they get your IP address, they’ll find out.
- Identity thieves – if you’re like most online users, a good identity thief can put together the pieces of your life story. They do it in such a convincing way that they can then use that information to impersonate you. Then you’re toast.
- Divorce attorney/private investigator – enough said. The less ammo you give them, the better it will be for you. Without concealing your online identity from even an average scumbag attorney or private investigator, you’ll be giving them more rope for your hanging. I’ll ask some of my friends for permission before posting what they’ve been through. But, let’s leave it at this – it scared me and I don’t scare easily!
Basically, unless you want to be exposed, using a proxy service is a must.
Exactly how does a service like Proxify work? Well, here’s a little geek speak for you
It can use an SSH tunnel, already created and listening to a localhost. It uses PuTTy to dynamically listen in to the host and redirect traffic through the “tunnel”. The application is then used to hook applications into using the tunnel without configuring the different applications itself.
I know, it doesn’t sound exciting, but the ramifications are huge, especially air-tight security against “man-in-the-middle” attacks. You can tweak the service for increased speed or security, so your experience doesn’t have to be in a virtual stranglehold.
Remember, if you think you have nothing to hide… you’re probably mistaken.
All the best,
Chris
