3rd Party Proxy Services

[Neovox]

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on third party proxy services like safeweb (etc.)? I didn't see any related posts on this topic and thought it might make for an interesting discussion.

peas

Neovox

[sea69]

ok you mean running (browsing) thru a proxy such as 'Safe Web'.. it does show only the SafeWeb IP when you use it......instead of yours..(on the top)

however, anyone with a bit more savvy can still find your true/real IP I don't know if it's appropriate to go into on this forum, but saw your topic unanswered.. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"Remember your 'unique'... just like everyone else!"

[Ghost_Hacker]

There is a new one (new to me anyway) called "Freedom" that routes your traffic thur several proxies some of which are not on US soil. You can still be traced but it would take looking at the log files of all those proxies to do so.

I think they provide a pretty good service by also disabling some cookies that trace your web usage.( they have a demo at their web site that loads cookies on your computer and shows you just what they can track.)

Anyway thier URL is www.freedom.net (http://www.freedom.net)

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"It's just a whisper in my Ghost"



[This message has been edited by Ghost_Hacker (edited 03-15-2001).]

[sea69]

hey http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

as usual when GH refers something it is at least- worth checking out!!

so I did- I went to the web site and read all of it they had to offer...including this: "Firewall

A firewall is a hardware/software security system used to prevent unauthorized computer access to a network or a personal computer. It works by creating a set of rules or filters for incoming and outgoing traffic. Unfortunately, it may also prevent Freedom from working properly.

If you are installing Freedom at work, ask your network administrator if the corporate firewall is configured to block the ports listed below. If you have a firewall installed on your home computer, make sure your configuration leaves these ports open.

51100 (TCP and UDP)
51101 (UDP)
51102 (TCP)
51107 (TCP)
51109 (UDP)

I was all set to download it until I saw that.

If it want me to leave those ports open, then I need you to explain to me how this is more- secure? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

[Ghost_Hacker]

OK, here goes, first a little background that you may find interesting or ..maybe not http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

A "opened" port isn't a problem unless there is a service listening on that port and that service has a sercurity hole that can be exploited.

Now most well know services run or listen at ports under 1500 or so.
Netbios for instance listens on ports between 135 and 139.
FTP uses ports 20 and 21, Telnet on port 23. All of these services are well know and can be exploited. Most hackers will try those ports first in an attack(script kiddies love those ports). So most Network admins will block connections to those ports at the perimeter or shut down those services.If a service isn't listening on the port then it won't respond when a hacker probes your ports using a TCP SYN scan.(He'll be listening for a SYN/ACK packet that a service would send when it gets a SYN packet. This is all part of the 3 way handshake that happens before every TCP/IP session can begin)

An open port on a firewall could be used by a hacker who knows how to create a packet to go thur that opened port to reach a "host" that is listening on a port in the internal network. This is an exploit beyond the script kiddie and is used by those who know what thier doing. So most admins will close all ports that are not needed by internal host to prevent that exploit. But on a standalone Computer if there is no service listening on the port then there is nothing a hacker can do.This is why trojans are needed they provide that "listening" service.

High level ports, those above 30000 are "free" ports. They can be used by a program without fear that a "needed" service will already be using that port.So I would hazard the guess that Freedom establishes connections on those ports but does not listen on them. Much the way your browser establishes a connection to a server using a port above 1500. (right now my browser is using port 3718.)


Freedom should not expose you to any more danger than your normal web surfing does already and has the bonus of hiding your ident. and making it hard for someone to track your internet usage.


I mention it as a way to hide your information from web sites both thur logs and cookies.


Hope this helps http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"It's just a whisper in my Ghost"




[This message has been edited by Ghost_Hacker (edited 03-16-2001).]

[Ghost_Hacker]

A correction to my last post.


After posting I remembered that Solaris, a flavor of Unix, has it's RPC services listening in the 31000 range. So I did a little checking and found that the "free" port range starts at about 50000 and runs to about 66000.

Just to clear that up http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"It's just a whisper in my Ghost"

[This message has been edited by Ghost_Hacker (edited 03-16-2001).]

[sea69]

hehe thanks HG http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I should know with you that if I ask I will get an answer ..

well I guess that sums that one up.. remind me to not have you mad @ me..