# Proxy Servers, are they harmful?



## Ryuunosuke (Mar 23, 2009)

Greetings everyone, 

I was wondering, since I was mistakenly banned because of my IP Address, if signing on using proxy servers had anything to do with my IP Address drawing attention. 
I've never had this IP problem before until recently causing me to be suspect for ban evading.

What do you think?


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## Xaerun (Mar 23, 2009)

Quite possible.

May I ask why you log on using such proxies, and which you are using?


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## Stratelier (Mar 23, 2009)

...obviously, if you happen to be using the same proxy as a previously banned user, an IP block isn't going to distinguish between the two of you.


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## Carenath (Mar 23, 2009)

_Open_ proxies are what site administrators have all the issues with. Anybody can connect to them allowing them to evade bans among other things. And even though many forward the user's actual IP address as an X-Forwarded-For header, that header can be faked and isnt entirely trustworthy.

ISP proxies are less problematic, they are more trustworthy and most of the time they are optional (you have to explicitly set your browser to use them).
Since 2007 all UK ISPs have had to implement CleanFeed. This works by checking the IP of the domain name you are browsing to, against a secret list. If the IP is a match, you are shunted  through a transparent proxy which will then filter your access. If the site/page is blocked, you are sent a fake 404 page, otherwise you are let through without any issues. Should any part of FurAffinity end up on the IWF's blacklist, then every ISP will be filtering your access of FurAffinity through their transparent proxies, meaning that instead of the 2million+ UK internet users showing up here as individual IPs (more or less), they will show up as being from the same IP, that of the proxy.

You shouldnt need to be going through a proxy of your own choice to access FA, but if by chance your ISP is forcing you through one, another user on FA might happen to be on the same ISP using the same proxy...


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## Ryuunosuke (Mar 26, 2009)

Xaerun: I use the proxys because the computers I am using here block the sites I normally visit. I can't quite define the type of proxy I use (I would use any random one I find that allows access). I just found out in wiki that there are different types of proxys with different abilities. 

Stratadrake: You make a good point.

Carenath: Okay, it's clearer to me now. I am new to this so I have no idea how to set the browser but even if I did, the computers here have it set up so that all customizations to the systems are disabled.

How do I know which ones are safe or even where to find them?


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## tsawolf (Mar 26, 2009)

The discussion of open proxies is a dangerous one.

I would remind you that when you login through a proxy, you must assume that you trust them not to watch what is coming through.  They can, with almost no effort, sniff passwords, login information, credit card numbers, etc, etc.

(Note: SSL is a defence, but not an intractable one.)


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## Xaerun (Mar 26, 2009)

Ryuunosuke said:


> Xaerun: I use the proxys because the computers I am using here block the sites I normally visit. I can't quite define the type of proxy I use (I would use any random one I find that allows access). I just found out in wiki that there are different types of proxys with different abilities.


Ah... so it's one of _those_ ones. I think.

Yeah, they're often IP banned because people use them to troll or evade bans. If you came up with that IP... *shrug*


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## Carenath (Mar 26, 2009)

Ryuunosuke said:


> Carenath: Okay, it's clearer to me now. I am new to this so I have no idea how to set the browser but even if I did, the computers here have it set up so that all customizations to the systems are disabled.


If you cannot make changes to your browser, i.e. set a proxy, then you are limited to regular proxy sites.



tsawolf said:


> The discussion of open proxies is a dangerous one.
> 
> I would remind you that when you login through a proxy, you must assume that you trust them not to watch what is coming through.  They can, with almost no effort, sniff passwords, login information, credit card numbers, etc, etc.
> 
> (Note: SSL is a defence, but not an intractable one.)


Indeed, and they can be easy to detect.

SSL can only protect you, if the target site is using it, and not all web-based proxies can handle SSL that well, if at all.


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## Sulfide (Mar 27, 2009)

Xaerun said:


> Quite possible.
> 
> May I ask why you log on using such proxies, and which you are using?



...some furries are firewalled by parents, schools, libraries etc. I have to use Circumventors to get onto here from school.


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## Xaerun (Mar 28, 2009)

JuggaloTheRolla said:


> ...some furries are firewalled by parents, schools, libraries etc. I have to use Circumventors to get onto here from school.


That's not the only use/type of proxy.


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## Stratelier (Mar 28, 2009)

JuggaloTheRolla said:


> ...some furries are firewalled by parents, schools, libraries etc. I have to use Circumventors to get onto here from school.


Go give Carenath's first post a read.


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## Armaetus (Mar 28, 2009)

Freely available proxies should not be allowed at all, but ones used by ISPs should be as long as the users of the ISP have an IP match to the proxies used by them.


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## Carenath (Mar 29, 2009)

And yet... these same previously available proxies have become my best friend for far nicer reasons.

Access to a good highly anonymous proxy in the US, is perfect for bypassing IP-to-Location based restrictions.... ever get that stupid "This video is not available in your country" message on Youtube? Well this allows you to get around it. Ever want to watch that TV show or something on one of those US sites... only to be told "this content is not available outside the US"... well there you go. Singlely the main reason I use any open-proxy these days... Getting around bans on forums and IRC networks is easier to do by just not giving them a reason to ban you (sometimes easier said than done).


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## Nanakisan (Mar 29, 2009)

pure and simple. don't use proxies. keep a level bit of security active on your system and if your behind a router with its own firewall your virtually safe unless you get infected with a trojan virus that opens a nifty backdoor then your royally screwed.


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## Stratelier (Mar 29, 2009)

Carenath said:


> ever get that stupid "This video is not available in your country" message on Youtube?


This is FA, not YouTube.


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## Prect (Mar 29, 2009)

I don't really know.

I use them in College to get on what I want so I don't care about the aftermath =3


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## krisCrash (Mar 29, 2009)

Nanakisan said:


> pure and simple. don't use proxies. keep a level bit of security active on your system and if your behind a router with its own firewall your virtually safe unless you get infected with a trojan virus that opens a nifty backdoor then your royally screwed.



Some places don't give you a choice - like a school.


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## Ryuunosuke (Mar 30, 2009)

Carenath: Wow, I never thought to use proxys for stuff like that. It surely is easier said than done because I haven't done anything wrong to get banned maybe other than the problem with the proxys I used. I still don't know the problem behind what caused my ban. I was only told it had something to do with the information in my IP address.

Nanakisan: You might be right but I don't think that's the case with me. I am looking for some way to get access to the sites these computers restrict without making trouble.

Prect: I used to do that until I got banned from FA. Please learn from my mistake and be more careful.

It seems we have an understanding krisCrash ^ ^ that's my point exactly. The computers I am using at this center restrict sites that I often use 

Thank you all for commenting. If you have more advice, please continue to share your thoughts.


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## krisCrash (Mar 30, 2009)

Ryuunosuke; nah I meant the other way: school will route all traffic through a proxy to control what people inside the network can see. And possibly for other reasons. But I get your meaning. I'm sure they had their _reasons_ to block those sites


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## Carenath (Mar 31, 2009)

Stratadrake said:


> This is FA, not YouTube.


You dont say! [/sarcasm]

Re-read my post again, I was talking about how one could use an anonymising proxy to bypass IP-to-Location restrictions that some websites have. Youtube is a brillient example, because its more likely that someone has run into that particular error message. Last I checked, FA does not use IP-to-Location and has no need to implement it.


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## Ryuunosuke (Mar 31, 2009)

krisCrash: I don't fully understand where your coming from on that.
Oh, I am well aware of their reasons. They want everything we do here to be job related. Like they actually expect everyone to suddenly drop all activities and dedicate their time to doing resumes and job searches. That's good but it's like complete isolation to me and it gets madening at times going like that.


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