IP Addresses and Proxy Servers

Proxy servers are services made for the general purpose of anonymity. This means that online users using these kinds of services get the benefit of surfing invisibly on the Internet. Without much effort, they are able to surf faster and more stealthily, hidden behind the proxy server supporting them. The details needed to trace the web surfer in question are masked thanks to the service.

But what is the explanation behind this masking technology? It has been said that the proxy server acts as a "middleman" for users, meaning that it is the proxy's identity that is displayed publicly, rather than the actual machine browsing requested Internet content. While the proxy processes and passes on Internet content, the real user is concealed from the public. Therefore tracing users is harder with proxy server technology being used in place.

What exactly are the "details" being protected? One of these is your so-called "IP Address." Many websites and very advanced users are able to see IP addresses. Usually, websites track the IPs of their visitors and list them down for security purposes, so just in case someone shifty decides to do something undesirable to a website's condition, the website's staff team can take action as to who is responsible, by tracking down the IPs listed on their site's logs. That way, malicious users like hackers could be easily busted.

While the intention of websites tracking and listing IPs is reasonable enough, there are more despicable Internet predators like hackers who wish to track user IP addresses for their own evil schemes. These users will use tricky means to get a hold of innocent surfers and sensitive information about them, such as their IP, so as to perform their payload on them. That random Internet user could be anyone. It could even be you!

This is where proxy server services come in. With its help, you are safe from the dangers of publicly revealing your IP address. As explained earlier, what happens when you use a proxy server to browse the Internet (a public network, by the way) is that the proxy server acts as your representative to the World Wide Web. This means that its and only its information, including the IP address, is revealed to everyone else on this vast network, not yours.

So why settle on putting yourself in danger online? Use a proxy server and you don't need to worry about evil entities who wish to maliciously compromise your data, or worse, your machine.