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Beware Those that scan for open proxy servers and then add them

Summary: Beware Those that scan for open proxy servers and then add them to a public list do not care if you get in trouble while using them If you are found using an unauthorized server it could be a class II felony The server that you are using could be located at some Government agency or a company with a top level Government contract Your real ISP information will be available to them in their system logs and you could be hunted down and prosecuted Public Proxy Lists Most times when a proxy server is open it is because it has been misconfigured on installation or the person that configured the server was simply not aware of the dangers in leaving it open Other times the server was not properly firewalled In almost every case you have no way of knowing if the proxy server was open deliberately or if is was a misconfiguration There is no large banner that pops up and says I left this proxy server open for everyone in the world to connect to and use come and eat up my bandwidth Most open proxy servers are simply scanned for and found misconfigured servers This accounts for them being on a list one day and gone the next Often when the network bandwidth takes the hit of hundreds of computers using it at the same time the open proxy problem is found and quickly resolved Honey Pots Misconfigured Proxy Servers out on the net While thinking that you have made yourself more secure you have actually opened yourself up for attack When using an open proxy server your PC is making a direct connection to another computer You also do not know who is in control of this computer Your passwords can be sniffed and your firewall tunneled Your privacy can also be invaded as this person reads your email snags your ICQ IRC AIM MSN messages or any other unencrypted data that is sent through one of these obvious honey or hackerpots Honey pots are open computers that are just waiting for someone to find and exploit After they are exploited they are monitored for a time and then legal action is often taken against those using these exploited systems hackerpots and

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