Advancement in the technology has led to the invention of the free proxy servers that play a major role in protecting the web based businesses from being hacked and malicious software. The proxy can be simply said as a caching web proxy that provides cache of the web pages and file stored in the remote servers and offering local network clients to access the data more quickly. Free proxy server is also useful in filtering the content of the webpages by the installation of censor ware software that are extensively used to block offensive web contents. Based on the anonymity and hiding capability there can be 4 types of proxies:
- Transparent proxy: Transparent proxy recognizes itself as a proxy server and makes the original IP address visible through the http header. These types of proxies are highly beneficial when it comes to enhancing the capacity to cache websites and do not provide anonymities to the users.
- Distorting proxy: The proxies under this category also identify themselves as proxy server, but by making incorrect IP addresses available in the http headers. These are extremely useful if you aim to hide your original identity.
- Anonymous proxy: Such type of proxies also identifies themselves as proxy servers, but do not make the original IP address visible to the users. Such proxies are detectable and but also provide a reasonable amount of anonymity to the user.
- High anonymity proxy: Proxies under this category do not identify themselves as proxy servers and also does not make the original IP address available.