Privacy, Security and Anonymous Internet Use

[LevII]

Identity theft, phishing etc. are a cause of great concern.

Does anyone have experience of either hardware or software that will conceal one's IP address while using the internet?

LII

 

[Directional]

use a proxy for websurfing,
Anonymizer do a service:
http://www.anonymizer.com/anonymize...utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=anonymous_surfing

There are free services out there, but just be careful because obviously if you use an untrustworthy proxy, the proxy itself can be used for identity theft since it handles all your traffic - not a good idea to use a free proxy for your personal banking.

I personally dont think anonymous surfying affords much protection, since a proxy wont stop you putting your passwords into a phishing site, or prevent a trojan or keylogger sending your details out from your computer.

A decent quality and properly configured inbound and outbound firewall such as ZoneAlarm, and daily updated anti-virus and anti-spyware will give you much better protection.

 

[StMartin]

I've used Anonymizer in the past and althought it can be on the slow side occassionally (as all proxies can), it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Well worth looking into if reliable anonimity is what you need.