There are several ways to stay anonymous online, but using proxy servers is the best. In addition to keeping your online activity private, proxies ensure that your device and data are secure. These two benefits alone render proxy servers a necessary addition to homes and offices worldwide.
The good news is there are a few more advantages you should know about when it comes to proxies.
Stay with us as we look at how proxy servers work and their typical applications in our private and professional lives. These are the many fantastic benefits of using a proxy server in 2022.
All about proxy servers
A proxy is a server app that functions as a gateway between a user’s device and the internet. It reroutes the requests and internet traffic from an internet-enabled device and acts as a filter between this device and the target website. The best proxies also protect and encrypt this traffic.
The primary purpose of proxy servers is to keep the client user anonymous.
Proxies ensure anonymity by hiding the client user’s IP address. Every internet-enabled device has its IP address, which internet service providers (ISPs) assign. Proxy servers have entire pools of IP addresses, so they hide the native one and replace it with one of theirs. That’s how most proxies work.
Based on different factors, we recognize more than ten types of proxies.
It’s important to note that not all of them provide the same level of anonymity. Transparent proxies, for example, don’t hide your device’s IP address. Anonymous proxies mask IP addresses and locations, but the target website can still see them. Only elite proxy servers guarantee complete obscurity.
How proxies are used
Proxy servers boast a myriad of individual and professional applications.
Most individuals use proxies when they need some privacy online, leveraging a safe environment for sensitive transactions and data sharing. Online shopping is an excellent example of that. A proxy server will keep everything you’d rather keep for yourself – your credentials, bills, photographs, or medical records – safe.
Proxy servers can also unlock geo-restricted content for entertainment, academic research, or something else. Gamers and streamers are frequent users of anonymous proxy servers.
Businesses use proxies for similar reasons, only at a much larger scale.
Proxies are essential for data privacy in a corporate environment, especially with many employees working remotely. Data sharing between employees’ PCs and corporate databases exposes a business to data breaches without a reliable proxy solution. That solution ensures both anonymity and encryption.
In the office, proxies help employers restrict their employees’ internet usage. Transparent proxies block out suspicious websites and prevent staff from sharing sensitive data online – accidentally or not.
Proxy servers also help companies conduct market research and competitor analysis without websites detecting them or banning their IP address.
The benefits of proxies
The many advantages of using proxies fall under these five categories.
1. Proxies ensure online anonymity.
Oversharing our private information with strangers on social media has become the new normal, but many internet users still prefer to stay private. By hiding our IP addresses, proxies ensure that nobody is collecting our data, keeping tabs on our online activity, or following us back home.
2. The connection is more reliable.
Proxies cache information on websites we visit daily, which makes them quicker to load. In general, using a proxy server balances the internet traffic and makes the connection faster and less prone to snapping. That is valuable at home, too, but it’s crucial for business research and data mining.
3. Proxies make our devices secure.
Not all types of proxies come with encryption capabilities, but those that do make our devices very secure. Proxy servers ensure no one can intercept your internet traffic and use it to identify your physical location, while encryption adds another layer of security around your sensitive data.
4. Proxies can bypass geo-restrictions.
You can use a proxy to circumvent the ban when you can’t access a specific website because of geo-restrictions. For example, you can connect to the internet from the US through an Iran proxy and unlock any content that you can’t access from the US. That is pretty helpful for streaming, gaming, and research. You can find more info about Iran proxy here.
5. Proxies increase business data protection.
As an employer, you can use a proxy to block potentially dangerous websites and prevent employees from exposing your business devices and data to phishing or malware. You can also use a transparent proxy server to boost productivity in the office by restricting access to social media and other sites.
Conclusion
Proxies provide a versatile solution to a common problem of our digital age. In the absence of official regulations that would put an end to cybercriminal and corporate espionage, proxy servers are the next best thing – they keep our private and professional online activity private, secure, and unrestricted.