People often say to me that they don’t like surfing the Internet as they feel every website they go to could hunt them down and knock on their door. Let me tell you this. It is not true.

However, bear in mind, that it is possible to find your location, but they would need a legal case against you to force your Internet Service Provider to hand over your details. However, if you are still worried and would like to surf the web anonymously, you will need to mask your IP address.

Before I get started, I should mention why people want to do this.

1. They need to test if a web server is correctly configured.
2. A firewall has blocked them out of their own website, and they need to get back in.
3. They want to access something that they can’t in their location. For example Google Voice or Hulu.
4. They are required to connect to a VPN network.

There are many more reasons for masking your IP address, but I will not go there. There are a few ways in which you can do this.

Change Your Proxy Settings In Your Web Browser

A quick and easy way is to tell your web browser to use a proxy. So how on earth do you do that? It is quite simple actually. But first of all, you have to find a proxy to connect to. Digital Cyber Soft has an up to date list that you can use.

Just simple select a random proxy from the list.

Once you’ve picked one, just enter the settings.

In Firefox: Tools –> Options –> Advance –> Network –> Settings

Then just select Manual proxy configuration and enter the  proxy IP address in HTTP Proxy and the Port number. Hit OK.

In Internet Explorer: Tools –> Internet Options –> Connections –> LAN Settings. Tick Use a proxy server for your LAN and enter the Address and Port number.

Hit OK. Once that is done, you can go to CanYouSeeMe and check that your IP is different to the one before you made the changes.

Install GlypeProxy On Your Web Server

If you own a webserver, you can install a free script called GlypeProxy. This script provides you with an admin control panel so you can see what sites visitors have been searching for and other cool features.

By installing it on your own server, you can ensure that no one will be stealing your information, they won’t show you ads and you will be much safer. Before you go ahead and do this, make sure you are allowed to install it by your web hosting provider.

There is also another script that does not give you an admin panel and that is phpProxy which  you can download at Sourceforge.

Install Software On Your Computer

Another way to mask your IP address or to use a fake one is to install software onto your computer. One such program is Hotspot Shield. It works by you downloading and installing a program onto your computer which creates a Virtual Private Network (or VPN) from your computer directly to one of their servers.

Use Web Proxies

One of the most common and easiest ways to hide your IP address is to use a web proxy. This is exactly the same as what I mentioned before in installing Glypeproxy, but it’s another script on another server. There are thousands of these on the internet, so its just a case of finding one that you like.

Some of the most popular, and better web proxies are:

• HideMyAss
• kproxy
• daveproxy
• Proxify
• anonymouse

Please use these sites at your own risk!

Connect to a VPN Network

By connecting to a VPN network such as your workplace or educational institute, when you browse the internet, your external IP address would be the place to which you are connected to. Once you connect to a VPN network, the rules of what you can do on the network will depend on the network you connect to. For example, they may block access to torrents and adult materials through their internet server.

So that is an overview on how you can mask yourself and use a fake IP address. However, please be very careful when you use these services, especially from other websites as you do not know what malicious code they may have put on their sites.

If you use a proxy, which one do you use? If you have any other tips, please tell us in the comments.

1. Setting Up a Free And Secure Proxy Server
2. 5 Red-Hot Tips To Unblock Websites Blocked By Firewall
3. Here Is How To Recognise A Fake Email ID
4. Hide Drives On Windows With No Drives Manager
5. OuttaSight – Easily Hide Running Programs (Windows)