Can I hide my IP address?

Hi all, forgive me if this has been asked before
Could someone point me in the right direction for a free download suitable for vista that hides your IP address,
And will I be suspended from the likes of Afterdawn for having a Non Functional Address? as I have seen some in the past... Is this the same thing? Many thanks!!

 

Nah... only a non functional email address.

As for hiding your IP address, I would like you to read my post about the very basics of anonymizing software.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/706626#4301186

Best Regards

 

Thanks for that Cdavfrew, but you might as well be explaining that to me in Japanese!! LOL as i havent a clue what your on about!!
What i need is a download that hides the IP address as big brother is getting close over here and people are starting to worry about being snared via their IP address.
So in layman speak, (Muppet language) is there an EASY way of hiding the IP address when posting, thanks..........

 

Haha... okay... I'll try Spanish this time. It's closer to English than Japanese, I believe.

There isn't anything which can "hide" your IP address, because IP addresses are needed to be able to access websites and such. However, what can be done is to "hide" your real IP address, and give you a fake one. The way you do this is through a proxy.

A proxy is an in-between computer between your computer and the computer you want to connect to (e.g. Websites, P2P). You will connect to the proxy, and then from the proxy connect to the remote computer, thus making it look like the in-between computer is the one doing the connecting, and the IP address displayed will be that of the proxy. This is how anonymizing software works.

Anonymizing software will route your connections through the company's computers and proxies, thus making your real IP address hidden. There are also free proxies online which you can use to browse through websites, but these might not be safe, and data passing through these proxies might be collected and used to steal information from you.

However, there is no real need for proxies. Even if someone does know your IP address, the only way for them to do harm to your computer is to hack it, and if you have a firewall, chances are, they can't. Some firewalls will stealth your computer so that even when people try to connect to the IP address your computer has, it will seem like your computer does not exist.

Of course, unless you're afraid of people knowing where you live, which can be done if people know your real IP address.

Then, you will need a proxy. Here are some examples of software you can get, but you will have to pay for some of them:

http://www.download.com/1770-2001_4-0.html?query=proxy&tag=srch&searchtype=downloads

Best Regards

 

If you are worried about getting caught using p2p there is a real danger (in some places of the world at least) when using your real IP. If a company identifies you as sharing data illegally all they have to do is liase with your ISP and they can get your name and address.

As mentioned before, the way around this is to use a proxy, then when a company gets your IP address, they look it up and it's actually the IP address of another computer that you have passed through while being proxyfied. With anonymous proxying that computer will hold no records of the computers that are passing through it so you will have no way of being caught.

I would start with a thing called TOR (the onion router), it's a network of proxies. You can download everything that you need to use it from vidalia (http://www.vidalia-project.net/download.php). Assuming you are using windows you will want the top one (windows stable bundle) everything you need comes down in that download. You will get TOR itself and a proxy list software called Privoxy, that is handy because usually you would have to get fresh lists of proxy computers pretty much everyday but with privoxy that is all done automatically. You can also choose to install Torbutton which puts a button into firefox where you can just use that to turn TOR on and off without going into the settings and entering stuff manually.

Once you have downloaded that stuff all you do is open TOR, open Privoxy and then tell your default internet browser that you will be going via proxy, in firefox it's as simple as pressing the TOR button, they you will be using a fake IP.

To test that you really have changed your IP go to whatsmyip.net before and after proxying and check that your IP address has changed.

Having said all this some TOR users get annoyed at people who use TOR for downloading stuff through p2p, but, it works, do what you will.

 

lol @ the sig.

 

Worth a chuckle I suppose
(hey Noely..I'll say this quietly so Des can't hear....do you reckon he knows that we can see where he is? mums the word eh?)

 

"Hey DesB

Keep it up! Onya doesn't suspect a thing... probably doesn't have a clue I'm watching him while he's watching you."

What? Oh, hahaha onya. Hi! *innocent halo around head

lol

Cheers

 

Roflmfao... Good one. I can just imagine there's a whole bunch of people, now watching one another, watching. (say the word watch too many times, and it gets a little bizarre)
This sh*ts too funny...I wish I'd had a drink or six beforehand.

Cheers.

 

Jaysus lads will you give a man a break LOL

I innocently ask for advice and end up everyone having a laugh!
I am not a rock!! I do have feelings (somewere)
Now unfortunetly I dont know everything ..ok.. anything.... about these computers, as we only recently got internet in the village, 18 months after electricity first came, No more gas lights(Jaysus I miss the smell)So please be kind to me!!!

I have to laugh though, half the country is panicking about being identified, by big brother, if you give us a solution they will all try it, yet i am the only one asking for it, could i sell it???LOL

@ LDee thanks for the advice it sounds like what i need however after the first line I am lost LOL, could you please give me an Idiot step by step way of getting whatever I need, you know step one...step 2... etc,etc,..... thanks so much..

@ Onya .. sorry .. but is that you behind the blinds???

@cdavfrew, Thanks for the help also but its slightly chinese to me,when I saw your answer my mind was telling me it said this:

哈哈...不错...我来试试这个时候西班牙语。它更接近于英文比日本，我相信。

没有任何事情可以“隐藏”您的IP地址，因为IP地址必须能够访问的网站等。然而，能够做些什么是“隐藏”您的真实IP地址，给你一个假的。你的方式做，这是通过代理。

代理是一种在计算机之间您的计算机与计算机要连接到（例如网站，点对点） 。您将连接到代理服务器，然后从代理连接到远程计算机，从而看起来像在电脑之间是一个做连接，并显示IP地址将是代理。这是匿名的软件工程。

and your sign saying I live near Rathangan reminds me of the Christian Brothers from years gone by!!!

right got to go Before I am Identified LOL............

 

LOL Rathangan?? Des, I live beside Newbridge, or so the sign tells me.
Think its time for a new sign.

 

Des sez...

In an age of satellites, that can zoom in on you and identify the colour of the sauce on your pie...WE don't need blinds....

.... that's prolly MI5 keeping tabs on you...LOL. (i wonder if MI6 knows about this?...i shall ask..)

 

Haha... okay DesB, let's try it the other way this time. Perhaps you could tell me what you don't understand, and I'll try simplifying it.

And I do understand Chinese by the way, so I'll have to say that your Chinese translation was grammatically wrong...

And whatever you do, DesB, do not look directly at the plant behind you, even if there is the shape of a camera there...

 

@ Onya even you have me confused re M15/16 shouldnt that read M50 thats the only motorway (or should I say carpark) that I know LOL

@cdavfrew apologies re chinese grammar, i had just ordered a takeaway from the local chinese restaurant whilst typing, and asked the deliveryman to translate!! LLOL so I probably asked you for a chicken Curry and some fried rice or something LOL
as I said it really would be great if I could get a :
step 1.....
step 2......
step 3.....
That kind of instruction, many thanks lads, gotta go to work, talk later

 

Um... DesB, I wasn't giving instructions. More like explaining why you would need or wouldn't need to hide your IP address, and what "hiding" the IP address actually means. So, perhaps after reading my explanation, then you can decide whether you need to "hide" your IP address or not.

If you do decide that you need to, then you can check out the page I provided along with my explanation. There will be a list of software, and when you choose one of them, chances are, there will be a tutorial.

Best Regards

 

I'm interested in this too! Which software would you recommend cdavfew from the list, for someone that isn't too computer savvy?

 

For p2p?.. seriously?/.. regardless of using any proxy whatsoever your originating IP is in every single packet header.. so the proxy knows where to forward it.. duh! A couple of grabbed packets will expose you.

 

That's why I prefer download sites such as download.com, because they have user reviews by non-computer savvy users. I don't really have an opinion on any of them, but for each software, there will be a review by people who have used it.

Here is a website which has links to many trusted and good anonymizers:
http://www.hsinlin.com/tips/anonymous_surfing.html

Hope this helps

Best Regards

 

Thanks cdavfrew, i had a glance at it, will read through it later properly when i have more time!