The Real Search for UK and US Proxies

The Real Search for UK and US Proxies

You have probably come across the term proxy if you spend any amount of time online. In fact proxies play an important part of many peoples everyday lives. Firstly I should probably explain what a proxy actually is, well in the very simplest terms, a proxy server is a computer which sits and handles you web requests. Instead of sending a request for a web site directly to that server the proxy fetches the pages for you, and so protects your real identity from that server. It is a middle man who fetches all your web pages and delivers them to you.

So why would people use a proxy server ? Well there are actually many reasons, but I’ll give you some of the main ones.

Security and privacy, using a proxy server prevents every web site you visit harvesting your details and logging yoru visits. Most websites do this to some extent for all sorts of uses. Your IP address is logged on virtually every website you visit even if it is not used, using a proxy means that the IP address of the proxy is recorded instead. Of course this only works if you use a secure and properly configured proxy server, a fact most security concerned people seem to be unaware of when using free unsecure proxy servers.

To access blocked and unavailable content, many web sites control who can watch, view or even buy from their web sites. Examples include media sites like Hulu and the BBC who block access by IP address to specific countries. Lots of big online companies charge different prices to different countries in a desperate attempt to hold on to the old price discrimination models that used to bring in such great profits. Again the restrictions are based on your IP address, so if the proxy you use is in the right country then you can bypass many of these blocks.

The problem as ever is that people will insist on thinking that a free proxy server is a good idea, of course anything for free sounds good but alas it is not the case here. Remember first that a proxy costs lots of money to run, then ask yourself why people would offer these for free? Well tehre’s again lots of answers but the main reasons are they don’t know - the servers have been hacked into and proxy access enabled, some will supply you with adverts with your browsing in order to generate income but by the far the worst are the ones run by identity thieves. These people provide you with a fast, reliable proxy because they know they can use it to steal your account details and paswords in exchange.