Article Computers Technology

An anonymous proxy
also referred to as an anonymous proxy server
allows a client to access a file
web page
or some other resources through a server which services the requests of the client through another remote server. For example
when a client accesses a web page through an anonymous proxy
the client talks to the proxy and the proxy talks to the web page
maintaining the privacy of the client
such as his/her IP address. The purpose of such a proxy
or a server
is to protect the privacy of the client from the service and from other individuals who may be logging and inspecting the client’s connection.

Such proxies are commonly used in schools and workspaces
to pass-by potential firewalls and monitoring services in place. Students will often utilize anonymous proxies to access social networking websites deemed and blocked by the school as harming the productivity of the students. Employees of a company may try to circumvent forms of monitoring within a company that may try to track or control which websites its employees are visiting.

Anonymous proxies serve as a wall between the client and the service being accessed. These servers can be used to bypass the restrictions and access these services possibly blocked by the country or some other organization providing the Internet connection
while others may use it solely for the privacy that is possibly guaranteed.


Risks Behind Anonymous Proxies
Because of how anonymous proxies
especially those running on web pages
are designed
all data sent to the proxy servers are unencrypted. Therefore
it is possible that confidential information such as logins and passwords can be recorded by a malicious proxy server. Also
through proxy chaining
some clients could potentially fall as victims to a web page displaying a false security measures
allowing all proxies within these chains to trace the client’s activities. Thus
only trusted anonymous proxies with a clear privacy policy should be used for security sake.