A proxy is basically leap frogging your web activity from your computer, to a remote computer (most likely, far far away from you), and then out to the world wide web. Indeed it does provide a certain level of anonymity.
My concern with proxy servers is that they are like one giant basket with tons of eggs. I've thought of a few examples of eggs that could be in that giant basket that would be potential targets for being sought at after.
First, you have people like us hiding what we do. There are thousands of other boards and websites that involve content that is more sought after. Some content might be other substances, child pornography, taboo content, and the list goes on. I would imagine these proxy servers probably have a fair amount of traffic in these areas.
Second, you have people using proxies just to hide their personal information. So, I'd imagine there are a fair amount of people who do this. Would it be crazy to think that someone could steal large amounts of personal information if they tapped the proxy?
If the proxy server was compromised or exploited.. they could still trace all your web traffic back to the original user anyway.
Here is the kicker that has me stumped. The odds of that happening would probably be very low, but the odds of getting turned it from your ISP are as well.
I've looked for similar discussions, but I've never found anything. What does everyone else think? Are proxies actually more of a threat than a means of precaution?
My concern with proxy servers is that they are like one giant basket with tons of eggs. I've thought of a few examples of eggs that could be in that giant basket that would be potential targets for being sought at after.
First, you have people like us hiding what we do. There are thousands of other boards and websites that involve content that is more sought after. Some content might be other substances, child pornography, taboo content, and the list goes on. I would imagine these proxy servers probably have a fair amount of traffic in these areas.
Second, you have people using proxies just to hide their personal information. So, I'd imagine there are a fair amount of people who do this. Would it be crazy to think that someone could steal large amounts of personal information if they tapped the proxy?
If the proxy server was compromised or exploited.. they could still trace all your web traffic back to the original user anyway.
Here is the kicker that has me stumped. The odds of that happening would probably be very low, but the odds of getting turned it from your ISP are as well.
I've looked for similar discussions, but I've never found anything. What does everyone else think? Are proxies actually more of a threat than a means of precaution?