Proxy Servers

First you need to understand just what is a "Proxy server"?
The simple answer is a proxy server is another computer or
application running on a computer that acts as a go between,
between your computer and a destination computer. Instead of
connecting directly to the destination computer you connect
to the proxy server which then strips away any identifying
information related to your computer and connects you to the
destination computer. This way the destination computer has
no way of identifying you and can only trace back as far as
the proxy server. There are a few big conditions to this of
course that need to be considered, the first is the way the
proxy itself is configured. Not all proxies are truly
anonymous and will pass at least some information about your
computer unto the destination computer. The second condition
is what information is retained in the log files of the
proxy server? The third condition is where is the proxy
server itself located? Obviously since the proxy is on a
computer itself it has a physical location somewhere in the
world and that location can be very important!

We can run tests on proxies to test how much if any
information the proxy is passing on to the destination
computer. We can also test to see where in the world the
proxy is located, but we have no way of knowing what
information is retained by the log files of the proxy
administrator. The information in those log files is what
Ctunnel.com turned over to the secret service in the Palin
hacking investigation and can lead right back to the
originating computer.

Before you use any proxy you should test its level of
anonymity by using available on line proxy testers. I won't
get into that here anyone interested can just Google, "Proxy
testing". You should also test to find the location of the
proxy itself, again I won't detail that procedure here but
interested Lone Wolves can Google, "Traceroute" for details.

When In my last email I spoke of "Chaining" proxies together
for better protection that simply means adding additional
proxies between you and the destination computer. So instead
of, Your computer>Proxy>Destination Computer, you add
additional proxies in between like this, Your
Computer>Proxy>Proxy>Proxy>Destination Computer. What that
does is provide additional protection because when the
authorities trace from the Destination Computer back to the
first proxy even if they are able to secure those log files
it only leads them back to yet another proxy and not to your
computer.

This is where the Geographical location of the proxy itself
becomes important. In order to obtain log files to locate
you the authorities need the cooperation of the
administrator running the proxy. They will often secure that
cooperation with court orders and Subpoena's. This is why I
said it is best to use Proxies located in different
Geographic areas. Using proxies located in different
countries requires that authorities here have to get the
cooperation of the local law enforcement officials of the
location of the proxy itself. When you add multiple proxies
all in different countries it becomes a nearly impossible
task to get all the log files from all the proxies. Unless
they get full cooperation their investigation goes nowhere.
You can understand why locating proxies in countries not on
the best of terms with your country works to your favor as
authorities are unlikely to get any cooperation in their
investigation. This also all but eliminates local and state
law enforcement from handling such a task and would require
Federal intervention which doesn't happen all that often.
Most local law enforcement once they're investigation leads
them to a foreign county abandon their investigation.

If I ever get the time maybe I'll write some in depth
Tutorials to explain this stuff better for interested Lone
Wolves. But for right now just Googling a lot of these terms
and reading what you find will educate people and hopefully
in the future keep someone out of prison.