Are you planning to use a proxy server? But wanted to know first the risk and what could be the possible damages if you choose to use a proxy server? Don’t worry! You’ve come to the right place, this article will discuss everything about the risk and the type of proxy servers.
To give you brief information, proxy server purpose is to act as a middleman between a computer (user/server network) and to the web. It gives the right to the computers to make an indirect connection to the other web services. Your computer has a connection to the proxy server that can request some files and data such as games, web pages, videos, pdf files, and so on which are available online from other servers.
When the request was sent, the proxy server will find for the resource from the cache in the local hard disk, so if the resources have been saved before, the proxy server will only return the file to the client computers. However, if it is not saved before, it’ll be connected to the various servers and will send a new request on behalf of the main computer.
Since web privacy is a threat to today’s generation, there are a lot of websites offering free proxy servers for you to try at home. But of course, there are risks you must know before using a proxy server.
Proxy Server 101: The Risks
You must be careful when using a proxy server, there are common risks that can undo all the good benefits of a proxy server.
- Free Proxy Server Risks
- Since it’s free, you must limit your expectation. Using some free proxy servers might be risky. But there are a few free proxy servers that are reliable and trustworthy.
- Basically, free means they are not focusing on the hardware and encryption, there are some cases that you’ll encounter performance issues and potential security issues
- History Log
- The proxy server keeps your original IP address and possible web request information are unencrypted and saved at your local hard disk. So always make sure to verify your proxy server logs and saves that information
- Some proxy server is used for privacy purposes, however, if the proxy server vendor is just tracking your information and sell it to others, then maybe you’re not getting the expected service you deserved.
- No Encryption
- Do not use a proxy server that doesn’t offer encryption protection. A proxy server that doesn’t have encryption only means that you are just sending a nonsense web request. In addition, anyone who intervenes will be able to get all the confidential information easily.
