Dangers of Free Proxies

By  //  September 22, 2022

Browsing the modern internet can be a pretty peculiar experience for tech-savvy veterans, as well as generations that grew up with the web and observed its unique stages and expansion.

In the past, it always felt as if no one truly knew who was the person on the receiving end and users felt much safer living out their alternative lives and benefiting from anonymity to ask important questions and avoid shame and unwanted attention.

Although very convenient, the modern internet is a whole different beast. Every connection to a digital device requires us to create strong links between digital accounts and information for identification. What offers us fast interactions with convenient online services strips us of the ability to remain anonymous on the web.

While it is foolish to expect the return of the free and anonymous internet, that does not mean we must not strive for humane treatment and take back the valuable aspects of anonymity that are still possible to preserve. While social media accounts are the grim reaper of internet privacy, avoiding them will not result in a permanent solution. Every visited website looks at our digital identity – an IP address to determine the visitor and their location. The information gets passed on and processed by advertisers to show the most relevant ads on visits to the web.

To avoid sharing private information and preserve the dignity of what is left of our anonymity, we recommend using proxy servers. With their help, you can change the direction of your entire connection or specific apps, making them take a longer route to the destination due to an extra stop. An intermediary server assigns a different HTTP header at this checkpoint and assigns a different IP address. In return, we receive the version of a page that would be seen through the eyes of a local user, native to the intermediary server.

When gullible and inexperienced internet users hear about proxy servers, the temptation drives us towards free, public proxies. In this article, our goal is to convince you to avoid such a mistake. To aid you in the process, we recommend you benefit from a free Proxyway Proxy checker. This online tool will help you test every intermediary server. Use a proxy checker to test the address and the information about it. For now, our goal is to educate the readers on the dangers of free proxies, to make sure you only need the Proxy checker to compare reliable, legitimate proxies. 

Manipulation of a casual internet user

Without testing and research, a web surfer using a public proxy may never know about the complexity of its dangers. At the most basic level, the servers are operated by hackers and cybercriminals, with most of them spying on the traveling data packets and awaiting the use of sensitive user data to steal this information. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Most free proxies force users to use an unencrypted HTTP connection instead of HTTPS. Modification of visited website versions affects the user by inserting different ads that aid the third party financially, as well as theft of HTTP cookies that contain data about browsing habits.

The scope of the problem is greater than a casual user anticipates. Even after the use of a free proxy, your browsers or even an entire internet connection can be laggy and preferred search engines are altered with suspicious websites. Free proxies pose a threat to private user data. Processing web traffic without HTTPS protocol for encryption has become synonymous with danger, and some modern browsers try to warn users about insecure connections.

The dangers of a free proxy have many layers, which makes their use very insecure. Any disruption of your internet connection and secure HTTPS connections can lead to further consequences. 

Ensure your safety

The safest and most obvious option is choosing proxy servers from legitimate proxy providers. Most of them offer massive IP pools with many countries around the world, and you can compare the most popular providers and their dominant features in Proxy Market Research. With a lawful provider, you have guarantees, tested abilities, and standards that protect you from the instability of free proxies.

If paying for top-notch services is not an option, don’t forget to utilize a proxy checker to make sure you do not fall into the most common traps of public proxies. Inexperienced internet users love to choose free proxies because they promise fake anonymity for those that need a quick fix to visit one website.

Most of the time, other pages and social media accounts are still being opened, exposing information to unknown third parties. Make sure to use the recommended proxy checker or choose a reliable proxy provider to get the most out of your service. The latter option is crucial for business-related tasks that depend on stability, so make sure you choose wisely and carefully and avoid the dangers of free proxies.