What is an IP address?
Every device connected to the public Internet is assigned a unique number known as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses consist of four numbers separated by periods (also called a ‘dotted-quad’) and look something like 127.0.0.1.
Hiding an IP online is necessary for a variety of different reasons.
Hiding an IP will usually provide the following benefits:
Anonymous Surfing – One of the most important features of hiding the IP address is the simplest one. The hiding of the IP will help to cover the tracks of the individual who is online and will tend to provide anonymity which can be very useful for anyone that is doing anything that anonymity would be useful for.
n Access Policy – An access policy can be put into place with the proxy service which can help to prevent access to certain websites. Although an IP hiding service is usually designed to prevent others from accessing your private information but it there are network services or content which may need to be restricted as well with this option. This can usually be installed onto the computer by parents which will want to reduce access to certain websites while allowing their children to access the internet anonymously.
To Monitor Usage – IP hiders can also be used to help log or audit the usage of an individual. This can help to understand where the individual is going and how long they are there as well. The IP hiding can also be used to prevent such information from ever being logged into any location.
Bypassing Security – Some IP hiding services are designed to allow access to security and parental controls on the computer. This is done by the computer by accessing an alternative website address when making requests to the internet. In turn the computer will believe that the websites being visited are innocent in nature and simply not adult websites or anything else which may be set to be filtered out such as access to certain websites. Any website can be loaded through the use of an IP hider because it will show up as an innocent website without adult content.
Scanning Materials – The use of an IP hiding option such as a proxy can be used as a specialized option that can be used to scan material before it reaches the computer. This is possible by having a website application option available on a server to scan content being sent through. This is best as an alternative to an antivirus and can help to prevent malicious software from reaching the user.
Getting Around Blocked Websites – An IP hiding service can make it much easier to circumvent regional restrictions, adult locks and various other forms of blocked websites. This is an option that is usually available by using an IP in place with a proxy that will gather the information and make its way back to the original computer from a long distance. Computers in a country for example can access another county’s proxy to get over the restrictions that are available in that country for example.
2 Ways to Hide Your IP Address:
1. A popular option for hiding an IP is software options because they make the process totally automated. Although many of these services are not available for free through software, there are many that offer a free trial to understand how the service works. The following options are very simple to use and provide IP hiding functions which are very useful:
Hide My IP available at http://www.hide-my-ip.com
Easy Hide IP available at http://www.easy-hide-ip.com
2. Hiding through a Proxy Server
Proxy servers are an easy way to get the function of an IP hiding software without the software. There are several different options available which can be used with the proxy servers for quick and easy encryption, anonymity and much more. The use of a proxy is simple and can be done with the following process:
Open up a browser window with one of the proxy servers of your choice. Now placing the URL of the location where you will be headed towards. The proxy server will automatically configure the URL of the location, provide encryption services and require some anonymity for their connection. The use of one of the following proxy servers is a great way to have anonymity with a hidden IP address:
Free Web Proxies available at http://proxy.org/cgi_proxies.shtml
Hide My Ass Proxy Server available at http://www.hidemyass.com/proxy
Free Proxy Surfing available at http://www.megaproxy.com/freesurf
You Hide available at http://www.youhide.com
Type of IP Address:
Domain Name System (DNS): This allows the IP address to be translated to words. It is much easier for us to remember a word than a series of numbers. The same is true for email addresses.
For example, it is much easier for you to remember a web address name such as whatismyip.com than it is to remember 192.168.1.1 or in the case of email it is much easier to remember email@somedomain.com than email@192.168.1.1
Dynamic IP Address: One that is not static and could change at any time. This type is issued to you from a pool of addresses allocated by your ISP or DHCP Server. This is for a large number of customers that do not require the same address all the time for a variety of reasons. Your computer will automatically get this number as it logs on to the network and saves you the trouble of having to know details regarding the specific network configurations. This number can be assigned to anyone using a dial-up connection, Wireless and High Speed Internet connections. If you need to run your own email server or web server, it would be best to have a static IP address.
Static IP Address: One that is fixed and never changes. This is in contrast to a dynamic IP address which may change at any time. Most ISP’s can offer to assign a single static IP or a block of static IP’s for a few extra bucks a month and may require you upgrading to a business account.
IPv4: Currently used by most network devices. However, with more and more computers accessing the internet, IPv4 IPs are running out quickly. Just like in a city, addresses have to be created for new neighborhoods but, if your neighborhood gets too large, you will have to come up with an entire new pool of addresses. IPv4 is limited to 4,294,967,296 IPs.
IPv5: This is an experimental protocol for UNIX based systems. In keeping with standard UNIX (a computer Operating System) release conventions, all odd-numbered versions are considered experimental. It was never intended to be used by the general public.
IPv6: The replacement for the aging IPv4. The estimated number of unique IPs for IPv6 is 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 or 2^128.
