As an Internet user you face many dangers online ranging from cyber criminals trying to steal your identity to marketing companies and ISPs tracking and logging your IP address. As a lot of web surfers know, one of the best ways for protecting personal information and maintaining Internet privacy is to use a proxy server. While many useful proxy servers can be found on the Internet simply by searching "proxy" on Google, the age old question that many Internet users have difficulty answering is: What is better to use, anonymous surfing software or free web-based anonymous proxies?

A software-based proxy will run with your current browser and allow you to surf freely without having to go back to a homepage to enter a new URL every time you want to visit a different website. This type of proxy does require the user to download and install the program, but after installation it should only require 1-click to run the program and surf anonymously. A good software proxy will cost you a few dollars a month, which is a downside compared to the free web proxies. There is usually a fee associated because you are getting what you pay for. Software proxies, much like their web-based counterparts, offer anonymous surfing, but also encrypt the data being transmitted. This means that in addition to your IP address being masked, your data and the transmission between networks is also secure, unlike a web proxy. Another positive aspect of software proxies is that your origin is also hidden. A website will see your origin as the last website you visited before coming to them, which can tell them a lot about you if they are tracking your surfing habits. Software proxies also allow you to surf through various domains so that if an IT department does try to spy on you they will only see the fake web URL that the proxy gives them. The proxy will show them you are surfing on officetrainingtips.com, while you are really checking your personal e-mail.

Web-based proxy servers are quite easy to use and require nothing on your part besides an active Internet connection and a web browser. These web anonymizers require you only to enter the URL of the site you wish to visit and give it a click. Your IP address is hidden and replaced with the IP address of the site’s server. This is a great example of proxy avoidance and will get you onto a blocked website, but only offers minimal, if any, data protection and encryption services. The main purpose of the web-based anonymous proxy is to get on websites such as MySpace, Facebook, or any other site that that would normally be blocked by a school or company’s IT Department. Another downside is that this type of proxy is unable gain access to sites that use Secure Socket Layer or Secure Shell encryption, such as banking sites.

Ultimately, both methods of protecting your IP address and maintaining Internet privacy have their pros and cons. At the end of the day if you only need a quick fix to get onto a blocked website that requires no personal information, such as account numbers or passwords, then a web proxy will work for you. Using a software proxy whenever you surf, even if only for a few minutes, would be highly recommended. It is still easy to use and offers much more protection and freedom to surf without the worry of just how protected you are. Since both will hide your IP address it is more important to focus on the advanced protection a software-based proxy can offer you. This factor alone makes software-based proxies, such as Private Proxy, your best bet.

On the web network, there are a lot of websites which offer features like file-sharing, instant messaging or leaving comments for the user’s profile. A lot of schools and universities have blocked such websites to be accessed from their locations to restrict people from logging in to these websites. But the use of proxy servers has a technological advance over these restrictions. The Proxy servers let you access websites from restricted locations and are a source to bypass secure sites from blocked locations, as they have the ability to bypass the network firewalls and filters. These proxy servers enable the users to surf the internet from blocked servers and are compatible to surf through sites which have audio and video streaming platforms like Youtube.

A proxy server is a computer program or application which processes a client request and forwards it to other servers. When you connect to a proxy server, and try to access some information available on another server, it forwards the request on your behalf and acts as the host server. In short, it becomes your face and represents you for access to the website or information. There are lots of types of proxy servers available based on your need, such as;

• Web proxy

• Caching proxy server/ Http proxy

• Anonymous proxies

• Intercepting proxies

• Hostile proxy servers

• Reverse proxy servers

• Forced proxy servers.

Usage of these proxy servers requires a simple process to be followed. You have to sign up to be able to use these proxies. Most of these proxy websites offer services without a cost. But, some of them may ask for a small fee to for the proxy services. After signup, the user can type the desired URL (for example: www.myspace.com) on the main page and all connections and traffic to and from the destination URL is redirected via the proxy, making it look as if the traffic is evolving from the main proxy , thus bypassing the domain based URL filtering blocking system. These proxies allow users to browse through the restricted websites and view profiles, post comments, blogs and surf the sites for music.

These proxies are reliable and secure. You have to agree to accept the strict set of terms and conditions like not to access websites that contain illegal content such as ware sites, use for spamming purposes, or distributing Spy ware or any other malicious script and you can surf the internet at school, universities, work and other places without any restriction, using the simple scripts which allow you to access the blocked websites.