Now we will try to figure out what a program is for hiding an IP address, pay attention to what the principle of operation of these solutions is, and also what is their functionality. All these actions will be presented with specific examples worthy of the user's attention.
Anonymity on the Internet - what is it and why is it needed?
When surfing the Internet, a person leaves a huge amount of various information about himself. At first glance, an ordinary user who does not have a program for hiding the IP address on the computer may think that there is nothing wrong with this, but no one can know with certainty who is in the hands of this information and how it can be used.
User information can be divided into two types:
data that the user voluntarily leaves on the pages of social networks and forums;
data that leak into the network through the used programs and technical means without the permission of the user.
We will leave what information a person places on his VKontakte profile on his conscience, and instead focus on the leak of deanonymizing information without the user's knowledge, as well as ways to avoid this. The most popular way to ensure your anonymity and security on the Internet is to hide your IP address.
List of programs to hide IP addresses - variety
There are a huge number of software solutions that allow you to travel anonymously on the Internet, without leaving unnecessary traces, both paid and free. Many users believe that the inclusion of the incognito mode in the browser is a panacea in this matter, but this statement is erroneous. If you do not use a specialized program to hide the IP address, it is impossible to reliably state that your data did not fall into the wrong hands. In order to protect yourself and be calm for anonymity and security on the network, the following programs are usually used:
Free Hide IP is one of the most popular software solutions that allow you to hide an IP address. The program is shareware (there is a paid version with a lot of settings), it can be downloaded via a direct link from the developer's site. Like other analogues, it connects the computer to an anonymous proxy server, which is an intermediary between the user and the requested Internet address.
SafeIP is a program for hiding IP addresses in Russian, it is completely free, does not affect the speed of Internet connection at all and does not embed any advertisements or banners on top of displayed pages. SafeIP has a simple, intuitive interface and will be an almost perfect solution for ensuring your own security on the Internet.
Hotspot Shield is another shareware program. You can hide IP through it by resorting to the help of a VPN, not a proxy server. If you do not go into technical details, then the program at the click of a button connects you to a virtual local network, allowing you to mask your real IP address as an American. This program for hiding the IP address is downloaded directly from the manufacturer’s website, and you only pay that a small banner will be displayed on top of the displayed pages, which can be disabled using browser extensions that block ads.
We will dwell on each of them in detail.
Free hide ip
Installing a program is no different from installing other programs. Download, run the installation file, follow the instructions on the screen and wait for the completion. It should be noted that during installation the program also offers sponsor toolbars, so we uncheck the box to prevent cluttering the computer with unnecessary applications. After starting the program, we will see a miniature window that displays our real IP address and a new one, supposedly located in the United States. The “Launch on Startup” parameter adds the program to startup, therefore, every time you turn on the computer, Free Hide IP will automatically start, replacing your IP address with another one. It is also possible to automatically change your address every few minutes by setting the value of the “Change IP every X minutes” parameter. After the settings are made, all sites on the Internet will be sure that you are in the USA, none of the attackers will be able to determine your real location, and many web services that are inaccessible to other countries will be opened.
Safeip
SafeIP is the only program to hide your real IP, translated by the developers into Russian, which means it is the easiest to learn for an ordinary Russian-speaking user. The program copes with its main task with a bang - it hides your IP address from sites, games, email and other applications. Compatible with all modern browsers and operating systems. The main program window contains only a few buttons: “Connect”, after which you connect to the anonymous proxy server, and the “Change IP” button, which gives you a new fake address. The program has a lot of useful settings, such as
ad blocking, protection from tracking temporary cookies, autorun at system startup, and automatic IP change after a specified time interval.
Hotspot shield
The following program for hiding the IP address from our list is also very easy to use, only with the caveat that during its installation you need to uncheck the box “Do you want to install our toolbar?”, Otherwise you run the risk of discovering a new useless browser a socket that only takes up useful workspace. We start the program and press the big green button with the inscription “Connect” - this is all we need to change our IP address to a fake one using Hotspot Shield. The address is also changed to American, and therefore, it will be impossible to track our real location.
Other ways to ensure anonymity on the Internet
There are many other ways to hide your IP address without using specialized programs. These methods require additional knowledge and time for the user to manually configure the IP address. If we describe the process briefly, we need to find a list of free proxy servers, copy the IP and port number from there, and then enter these parameters in the settings of your browser or other application that uses an Internet connection. The disadvantage of the manual method is that most of the proxies that can be found in the public domain have a low connection speed and also do not guarantee you complete security and anonymity. Therefore, I recommend that you use specialized software to hide the real IP address and not worry about your own security!