For the last few days I've been testing A4Proxy, a nifty proxy manager that even let's me edit info my browser normally sends to Web sites, like my OS, progs installed in my PC, language, etc., which is none of their damn business, and can spoof IPs.

[url]http://www.inetprivacy.com/a4proxy/index.htm[/url]

Yesterday I stumbled upon a proxy operated by a porn site. Hmmm... Are these porners such nice guys they offer the public free proxies? I think not.

It occurred to me that anyone could set up a free public anon proxy for the sole purpose of sniffing traffic to gather passwords, ****** card numbers, monitor illegal activity etc. Who would do such a thing? How about governments, law enforcement agencies, hackers...? There are many sting operations done on the Net using dummy Web sites. You think proxies have been overlooked?

Your favorite proxy may be worse than the Web site you're trying to prevent *****ing you or the "untraceable" email you're sending. Next time you find a nice anon proxy with no domain name, think about it.

I'm gonna be more careful which proxies I use in future. Maybe I'll go for .edu, .gov, .mil...? What's a paranoid netizen to do?

Cheers.