Proxy Server Is Used For Which Of The Following
What is proxy server? – Definition from WhatIs.com
A proxy server is a dedicated computer or a software system running on a computer that acts as an intermediary between an endpoint device, such as a computer, and another server from which a user or client is requesting a service. The proxy server may exist in the same machine as a firewall server or it may be on a separate server, which forwards requests through the firewall.
An advantage of a proxy server is that its cache can serve all users. If one or more Internet sites are frequently requested, these are likely to be in the proxy’s cache, which will improve user response time. A proxy can also log its interactions, which can be helpful for troubleshooting.
How proxy servers work
When a proxy server receives a request for an Internet resource (such as a Web page), it looks in its local cache of previously pages. If it finds the page, it returns it to the user without needing to forward the request to the Internet. If the page is not in the cache, the proxy server, acting as a client on behalf of the user, uses one of its own IP addresses to request the page from the server out on the Internet. When the page is returned, the proxy server relates it to the original request and forwards it on to the user.
Proxy servers are used for both legal and illegal purposes. In the enterprise, a proxy server is used to facilitate security, administrative control or caching services, among other purposes. In a personal computing context, proxy servers are used to enable user privacy and anonymous surfing. Proxy servers can also be used for the opposite purpose: To monitor traffic and undermine user privacy.
To the user, the proxy server is invisible; all Internet requests and returned responses appear to be directly with the addressed Internet server. (The proxy is not actually invisible; its IP address has to be specified as a configuration option to the browser or other protocol program. )
Users can access web proxies online or configure web browsers to constantly use a proxy server. Browser settings include automatically detected and manual options for HTTP, SSL, FTP, and SOCKS proxies. Proxy servers may serve many users or just one per server. These options are called shared and dedicated proxies, respectively. There are a number of reasons for proxies and thus a number of types of proxy servers, often in overlapping categories.
Forward and reverse proxy servers
Forward proxies send the requests of a client onward to a web server. Users access forward proxies by directly surfing to a web proxy address or by configuring their Internet settings. Forward proxies allow circumvention of firewalls and increase the privacy and security for a user but may sometimes be used to download illegal materials such as copyrighted materials or child pornography.
Reverse proxies transparently handle all requests for resources on destination servers without requiring any action on the part of the requester.
Reverse proxies are used:
To enable indirect access when a website disallows direct connections as a security measure.
To allow for load balancing between severs.
To stream internal content to Internet users.
To disable access to a site, for example when an ISP or government wishes to block a website.
Sites might be blocked for more or less legitimate reasons. Reverse proxies may be used to prevent access to immoral, illegal or copyrighted content. Sometimes these reasons are justifiable and sometimes they are not. Reverse proxies sometimes prevent access to news sites where users could view leaked information. They can also prevent users from accessing sites where they can disclose information about government or industry actions. Blocking access to such websites may violate free speech rights.
Other types of proxy servers
Transparent proxies are typically found near the exit of a corporate network. These proxies centralize network traffic. On corporate networks, a proxy server is associated with — or is part of — a gateway server that separates the network from external networks (typically the Internet) and a firewall that protects the network from outside intrusion and allows data to be scanned for security purposes before delivery to a client on the network. These proxies help with monitoring and administering network traffic as the computers in a corporate network are usually safe devices that do not need anonymity for typically mundane tasks.
Anonymous proxies hide the IP address of the client using them allow to access to materials that are blocked by firewalls or to circumvent IP address bans. They may be used for enhanced privacy and / or protection from attack.
Highly anonymous proxies hide even the fact that they are being used by clients and present a non-proxy public IP address. So not only do they hide the IP address of the client using them, they also allow access to sites that might block proxy servers. Examples of highly anonymous proxies include I2P and TOR.
Socks 4 and 5 proxies provide proxy service for UDP data and DNS look up operations in addition to Web traffic. Some proxy servers offer both Socks protocols.
DNS proxies forward domain name service (DNS) requests from LANs to Internet DNS servers while caching for enhanced speed.
Proxy hacking
In proxy hacking, an attacker attempts to steal hits from an authentic web page in a search engine’s index and search results pages. The proxy hacker would have a either a fraudulent site emulating the original or whatever they felt like showing the clients requesting the page.
Here’s how it works: The attacker creates a copy of the targeted web page on a proxy server and uses methods such as keyword stuffing and linking to the copied page from external sites to artificially raise its search engine ranking. The authentic page will rank lower and may be seen as duplicated content, in which case a search engine may remove it from its index.
This form of hacking can be also be used to deliver pages with malicious intent. Proxy hacking can direct users to fake banking sites, for example, to steal account info which can then be sold or used to steal funds from the account. The attacker can also use the hack to direct users to a malware-infected site to compromise their machines for a variety of nefarious purposes.
Some means have been developed to compromise proxy abilities. Specially crafted Flash and Java apps, Javascript, Active X and some other browser plugins can be used to reveal a proxy user’s identity, so proxies should not be used on untrusted sites or anywhere that anonymity is important.
Website owners who suspect they have been the victim of a proxy hack can test the theory by searching for a phrase that would be almost uniquely identifying to the site. Their site should be prominent on the search engine results page (SERP). If a second site with the same content shows up, it may be a proxy page.
Proxy server security
Proxy servers in many forms enhance security but like many things in computing may be vulnerable themselves. To prevent DoS attacks and network intrusion, administrators should keep software up to date, use load balancing, enforce secure authorization and authentication and block unsolicited traffic, malicious and open proxies.
This was last updated in June 2020
Continue Reading About proxy server
Learn more about proxy servers and firewalls in this “Introduction to Firewalls” from
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Proxy servers and DMZ
A Proxy server is used for which of the following? – Toppr
Open in AppA Proxy server is used for
To process client requests for web pages.
In computer networks, a
proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application) that acts as an
intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other
open proxy is a forwarding proxy server that is accessible by any Internet
user.
Under Proxy server, click
to select the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box. In the Address box,
type the IP address of the proxy server. In the Port box, type the port number
that is used by the proxy server for client connections (by default, 8080).
A proxy server, also known
as a “proxy” or “application-level gateway”, is a computer
that acts as a gateway between a local network (e. g., all the computers at one
company or in one building) and a larger-scale network such as the internet.
Proxy servers provide increased performance and this answer helpful? 00
What is a Proxy Server and How Does it Work? – Varonis
The actual nuts and bolts of how the internet works are not something people often stop to consider. The problem with that is the inherent danger of data security breaches and identity theft that come along with the cute dog pictures, 24-hour news updates, and great deals online.
But what actually happens when you browse the web? You might be using a proxy server at your office, on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or you could be one of the more tech-savvy who always use a proxy server of some kind or another.
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What’s a Proxy Server?
A proxy server is any machine that translates traffic between networks or protocols. It’s an intermediary server separating end-user clients from the destinations that they browse. Proxy servers provide varying levels of functionality, security, and privacy depending on your use case, needs, or company policy.
If you’re using a proxy server, traffic flows through the proxy server on its way to the address you requested. The request then comes back through that same proxy server (there are exceptions to this rule), and then the proxy server forwards the data received from the website to you.
If that’s all it does, why bother with a proxy server? Why not just go straight from to the website and back?
Modern proxy servers do much more than forward web requests, all in the name of data security and network performance. Proxy servers act as a firewall and web filter, provide shared network connections, and cache data to speed up common requests. A good proxy server keeps users and the internal network protected from the bad stuff that lives out in the wild internet. Lastly, proxy servers can provide a high level of privacy.
How Does a Proxy Server Operate?
Every computer on the internet needs to have a unique Internet Protocol (IP) Address. Think of this IP address as your computer’s street address. Just as the post office knows to deliver your mail to your street address, the internet knows how to send the correct data to the correct computer by the IP address.
A proxy server is basically a computer on the internet with its own IP address that your computer knows. When you send a web request, your request goes to the proxy server first. The proxy server then makes your web request on your behalf, collects the response from the web server, and forwards you the web page data so you can see the page in your browser.
When the proxy server forwards your web requests, it can make changes to the data you send and still get you the information that you expect to see. A proxy server can change your IP address, so the web server doesn’t know exactly where you are in the world. It can encrypt your data, so your data is unreadable in transit. And lastly, a proxy server can block access to certain web pages, based on IP address.
What are Forward Proxies
A forward proxy server sits between the client and an external network. It evaluates the outbound requests and takes action on them before relaying that request to the external resource.
Most proxy services that you’re likely to encounter are forward proxies. Virtual Private Networks and Web content filters are both examples of forward proxies.
What are Reverse Proxies
A reverse proxy server sits between a network and multiple other internal resources. A large website might have dozens of servers that collectively serve requests from a single domain. To accomplish that, client requests would resolve to a machine that would act as a load balancer. The load balancer would then proxy that traffic back to the individual servers.
Some popular open source reverse proxies are:
Varnish
Squid
Why Should You Use a Proxy Server?
There are several reasons organizations and individuals use a proxy server.
To control internet usage of employees and children: Organizations and parents set up proxy servers to control and monitor how their employees or kids use the internet. Most organizations don’t want you looking at specific websites on company time, and they can configure the proxy server to deny access to specific sites, instead redirecting you with a nice note asking you to refrain from looking at said sites on the company network. They can also monitor and log all web requests, so even though they might not block the site, they know how much time you spend cyberloafing.
Bandwidth savings and improved speeds: Organizations can also get better overall network performance with a good proxy server. Proxy servers can cache (save a copy of the website locally) popular websites – so when you ask for, the proxy server will check to see if it has the most recent copy of the site, and then send you the saved copy. What this means is that when hundreds of people hit at the same time from the same proxy server, the proxy server only sends one request to This saves bandwidth for the company and improves the network performance.
Privacy benefits: Individuals and organizations alike use proxy servers to browse the internet more privately. Some proxy servers will change the IP address and other identifying information the web request contains. This means the destination server doesn’t know who actually made the original request, which helps keeps your personal information and browsing habits more private.
Improved security: Proxy servers provide security benefits on top of the privacy benefits. You can configure your proxy server to encrypt your web requests to keep prying eyes from reading your transactions. You can also prevent known malware sites from any access through the proxy server. Additionally, organizations can couple their proxy server with a Virtual Private Network (VPN), so remote users always access the internet through the company proxy. A VPN is a direct connection to the company network that companies provide to external or remote users. By using a VPN, the company can control and verify that their users have access to the resources (email, internal data) they need, while also providing a secure connection for the user to protect the company data.
Get access to blocked resources: Proxy servers allow users to circumvent content restrictions imposed by companies or governments. Is the local sportsball team’s game blacked out online? Log into a proxy server on the other side of the country and watch from there. The proxy server makes it look like you are in California, but you actually live in North Carolina. Several governments around the world closely monitor and restrict access to the internet, and proxy servers offer their citizens access to an uncensored internet.
Now that you have an idea about why organizations and individuals use a proxy server, take a look at the risks below.
Proxy Server Risks
You do need to be cautious when you choose a proxy server: a few common risks can negate any of the potential benefits:
Free proxy server risks
You know the old saying “you get what you pay for? ” Well, using one of the many free proxy server services can be quite risky, even the services using ad-based revenue models.
Free usually means they aren’t investing heavily in backend hardware or encryption. You’ll likely see performance issues and potential data security issues. If you ever find a completely “free” proxy server, tread very carefully. Some of those are just looking to steal your credit card numbers.
Browsing history log
The proxy server has your original IP address and web request information possibly unencrypted, saved locally. Make sure to check if your proxy server logs and saves that data – and what kind of retention or law enforcement cooperation policies they follow.
If you expect to use a proxy server for privacy, but the vendor is just logging and selling your data you might not be receiving the expected value for the service.
No encryption
If you use a proxy server without encryption, you might as well not use a proxy server. No encryption means you are sending your requests as plain text. Anyone who is listening will be able to pull usernames and passwords and account information really easily. Make sure whatever proxy server you use provides full encryption capability.
Types of Proxy Servers
Not all proxy servers work the same way. It’s important to understand exactly what functionality you’re getting from the proxy server, and ensure that the proxy server meets your use case.
Transparent Proxy
A transparent proxy tells websites that it is a proxy server and it will still pass along your IP address, identifying you to the web server. Businesses, public libraries, and schools often use transparent proxies for content filtering: they’re easy to set up both client and server side.
Anonymous Proxy
An anonymous proxy will identify itself as a proxy, but it won’t pass your IP address to the website – this helps prevent identity theft and keep your browsing habits private. They can also prevent a website from serving you targeted marketing content based on your location. For example, if knows you live in Raleigh, NC, they will show you news stories they feel are relevant to Raleigh, NC. Browsing anonymously will prevent a website from using some ad targeting techniques, but is not a 100% guarantee.
Distorting proxy
A distorting proxy server passes along a false IP address for you while identifying itself as a proxy. This serves similar purposes as the anonymous proxy, but by passing a false IP address, you can appear to be from a different location to get around content restrictions.
High Anonymity proxy
High Anonymity proxy servers periodically change the IP address they present to the web server, making it very difficult to keep track of what traffic belongs to who. High anonymity proxies, like the TOR Network, is the most private and secure way to read the internet.
Proxy servers are a hot item in the news these days with the controversies around Net Neutrality and censorship. By removing net neutrality protections in the United States, Internet Service Providers (ISP) are now able to control your bandwidth and internet traffic. ISPs can potentially tell you what sites you can and cannot see. While there’s a great amount of uncertainty around what is going to happen with Net Neutrality, it’s possible that proxy servers will provide some ability to work around an ISPs restrictions.
Varonis analyzes data from proxy servers to protect you from data breaches and cyber attacks. The addition of proxy data gives more context to better analyze user behavior trends for abnormalities. You can get an alert on that suspicious activity with actionable intelligence to investigate and deal with the incident.
For example, a user accessing GDPR data might not be significant on its own. But if they access GDPR data and then try to upload it to an external website, it could be an exfiltration attempt and potential data breach. Without the context provided by file system monitoring, proxy monitoring, and Varonis threat models, you might see these events in a vacuum and not realize you need to prevent a data breach.
Get a 1:1 demo to see these threat models in action – and see what your proxy data could be telling you.
Frequently Asked Questions about proxy server is used for which of the following
What is the use of proxy server?
A proxy server is any machine that translates traffic between networks or protocols. It’s an intermediary server separating end-user clients from the destinations that they browse. Proxy servers provide varying levels of functionality, security, and privacy depending on your use case, needs, or company policy.May 7, 2021
Which of the following are the reasons to use proxy servers?
Proxy servers can easily be used to increase speeds and save bandwidth on a network by compressing traffic, caching files and web pages accessed by multiple users, and stripping ads from websites. This frees up precious bandwidth on busy networks, so your team can access the internet quickly and easily.Jun 20, 2016
Which of these are uses of a proxy server Mcq?
To provide security against unauthorized users.
