Proxies vs. VPN What’s the difference?

Do I need to use VPN or proxy?

• You live in, or are visiting, a country that engages in Internet censorship or monitoring of content.

• You don’t want your ISP log, monitor, or control what you do online.

• You want to hide your IP address so you can protect your identity and location.

Do I need to use VPN or proxy?• You don’t want search engines, such

as Google and etc ,recording and storing every Internet search you perform…

• You use the Internet at hotels or other shared hospitality or public networks.

Proxy Servers

A proxy server is a computer that acts as an intermediary between your computer and the internet.Unlike VPN servers, proxy servers do not have to devote resources to encrypting all traffic that passes through them!

Proxies typesProxy servers usually communicate with the internet using one of 2 different protocols:

1.HTTP2.SOCKS

HTTP Proxy Servers

The HTTP protocol is designed to interpret traffic at the HTTP level.because all it is doing is handling HTTP requests, it is faster than either Socks proxies or VPN servers.

Advantages

1. Cheap (and often free)

2. Will hide your IP from basic checks, and is therefore ok for accessing some geo-restricted websites and for account creation

Disadvantages

1. Only useful for accessing websites2. Clever use of Flash or JavaScript

allows many websites to detect your true IP

3. HTTP traffic is not encrypted, so government surveillance systems and your ISP can see what you are doing

SOCKS Proxy Servers

SOCKS servers do not interpret network traffic at all, which makes them much more flexible, but because they are usually handling more traffic, usually slower.

Advantages

Can handle any kind of internet traffic (including torrents POP3,SMTP)

Disadvantages

1. Slower than HTTP2. Each piece of software ( BitTorrent client)

must be configured individually3. Same security issues as HTTP

VPN

Virtual Private Networks create an encrypted ‘tunnel’ between your computer and the host server.your activities, IP addresses you have visited etc. are all completely hidden from them behind a minimum of 128-bit encryption.

VPN

However, the VPN server can see what you get up to on-line, which is why we feel it vital that a good VPN provider to keeps no logs.All internet activity, no matter which program you use, is now safely routed through the VPN.

VPN types

1. PPTP2. L2TP3. OPEN VPN4. IKEV25. SSTP

1. PPTP:very insecure, Fast, Very easy to set up

2. L2TP:Secure,Easy to set up,Slower than OpenVPN

3. OpenVPN:Very secure, Open sourcewide range of encryption algorithms, Needs third party software

4. IKEV2:Faster than PPTP and L2TP,Very secure – supports AES 128, AES 192, AES 256.Not supported on many platforms

Advantages

1. Internet activity cannot be spied on by ISPs or governments

2. High levels of encryption (128-bit to 2048-bit)

3. All internet activity masked

Disadvantages

1. More expensive than proxies

2. Can be a bit slow during peak times

3. If VPN provider keeps logs then these may be obtained by the authorities

VPN OR PROXY!?

Conclusion

VPN is superior in almost every way to proxies. It provides vastly improved online anonymity, and protects your entire on-line life.The only real reason for choosing a proxy service is over VPN is price, which we understand is a real factor for many

Nothing in this world is ever absolutely 100% secure, so

be careful!

References

• https://www.witopia.net/support/why/• http://lifehacker.com/5940565/why-you-sh

ould-start-using-a-vpn-and-how-to-choose-the-best-one-for-your-needs

• https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4085/proxies-vs-vpn-whats-the-difference/