Disclaimer We do not encourage any kinds of illegal
activities. If you believe that breaking the law is a good way to impress
someone, please stop reading now and grow up. There is nothing impressive or
cool in being a criminal.
1. What is a Proxy Server? Proxy
Server is a server that someone (maybe an ISP, maybe a friend) has setup so that
when you go to connect to a website, instead of going directly to the site's
server, it will take a detour and 1st go through the proxy server and then from
the proxy server go to the website. So if someone else loads the website and is
also going through the same network they will just get the website off of the
Proxy Server. Whoever (most likely a System Admin, ISP, etc.) is managing this
server will be in charge of setting up the time in which the proxy server
refreshes the websites. Everytime a new page is visited, it is saved on the
Proxy Server. Again, its up to the person in charge of the Proxy Server to
choose how long the site stays on the server. If a user notices that a site is
not updated and needs to be refreshed (such as a site that is supposed to be
updated daily) all he or she has to do is hit the "refresh or reload" button on
their browsers and it will update the page on the proxy server.
2. Why use a Proxy Server? There are different reasons.
Some ISP's (Internet Service Providers) like it because it cuts down on overall
traffic for their network, and speeds up surfing for their users (since the
Proxy is closer to them than the site's server, they get less "trip time", less
lag or in other words, faster surfing). Users like it because it can help to
make it harder to track their activities over the web. This is especially useful
since Users can actually chain some proxies and actually go through 3 or more
different proxy servers; however it will be hard to find 3 servers that will
allow it for one thing. For Another, The speed of the connection will become
noticeably slower, especially if we're dealing with servers on different
continents. Another reason is if you connect to a larger proxy server, your
speed will increase. Note: It's a good thing to find out who runs the proxy
server you are connecting through. If its Microsoft don't bother, they'll
probably log your every move. If it's anonymous or if it's one that says anyone
in the public can use, then go for it. To find out this info you would usually
have to check with the proxy server's admin's website.
"WinGate is a proxy server firewall software
package that allows you to share a single (or multiple) Internet connections
with an entire computer network. The Internet connection shared by WinGate can
be of nearly any type, including dial up modem, ISDN, xDSL, cable modem,
satellite connection, or even dedicated T1 circuits."
Wingate is similar
to a proxy server. It connects different computer through port 23 onto a server,
which is called a wingate. In fact, it's just a telnet connection. The Wingate
will let anyone on the network access the Internet or connect through it to
other sites. Due to poorly configured wingates and Administrator's incompetence,
there's a lot of wingates that will let anyone on the Internet connect through
them. Opening the way for anything from an IP spoof on ICQ or irc to full scale
abuse. Such wingates are called "Open Wingates" and usually last from anywhere
from a few days to maybe a few months until an Administrator either discovers it
or gets complaints about some "mysterious" users doing something they shouldn't
be. Most likely in that case it's someone connecting over the Internet.
The only benefit for administrators is the ability to put multiple users
through the same connection. The problems with it clearly outweigh the benefits.
If anyone is going to set up their own wingate, I'd suggest strongly that you
know what you are doing and make sure that is configured securely so that only
those that are meant to use it, are the ones using it. Another more secure
WinGate-like software is SyGate.
From previous experience working with
Wingates both as a Network Administrator and a "remote" user I can tell you that
the logs on most wingates are cleared usually every 48 hours. Most businesses
and ISP's (especially the big ones) just don't have the need or the resources to
log every single thing that happens on their wingate servers.
4. How do I find Wingates? Good question. The best way
is word of mouth. Failing that, the 2nd best way is to use a wingate scanner.
You can scan whole subnets for wingates. A note: IP's in third world countries,
the Middle East, Africa, and on the @home network all have one thing in common:
They all have wingates that are poorly configured and there are usually a few
open wingates on their networks. Try scanning them 1st and foremost. Through
Unix, the best way is: trial and error. telnet to the wingate through port 23,
then leave the user name and password blank and if you get in, you've found one.
You might also want to try username and/or password as: wingate. The best
windows (32 bit) scanner I have used is: wGateScan v2.2 It is available on
many different websites. I got it from this site, it has some other useful stuff
on it too: http://www.hotmanscave.com/ To use it,
all you have to do is to enter a range of IP address or a hostname. It will
telnet to each host in the range through port 23 and will send a message saying
"wingate" or something. If the host accepts this message then bingo ! You've
found one and it keeps a list of all working open wingates, which you can save
to a file or delete as needed.
5. Wingates with
ICQ: To Configure ICQ to work with WinGate: Go to WinGate
Setup Screen and click on the Proxies Tab Press ADD Select Type of
Proxy: 'Mapped Link' Press Create Under the Settings Group check 'Enable
Connections To Proxy On Port.' Put the number 3333 in this window. Set The
Socket Type to: 'UDP' Make sure that 'Destroy Inactive Sessions after XXX
seconds' is NOT Checked. Make sure that 'Enable Default Remote Host' is
Checked and set to: icq.mirabilis.com Port: 4000
For each remote
machine: Press Add. In 'Connect Client IP' enter the IP of the remote
machine In 'To Host' enter icq.mirabilis.com In 'Port' enter 4000
Press OK Now press DONE. You will now be at the main WinGate setup
screen. Make sure that there is a SOCKS4 Proxy Enabled on Port 1080
Press SAVE Check it out at your remote machine Remote Machine
Configuration If you still did not pass the ICQ Registration Wizard: At
the Registration Wizard under Connection Type register as a LAN User. Choose
'I am behind a firewall or proxy.' Click Next for the next dialog.
Choose either Socks4 or socks 5 server depending on the compatibility of the
proxy server Do NOT mark the firewall sessions time out click Next for
the next dialog. Enter the servers' IP address using socks port 1080.
Click Next for the next to see if you have succeeded to register. If you
fail to register, you will receive the a dialog telling you so. Try one or
more of the following: Click Retry to try again using the same settings.
Hit the Back button to change the firewall settings. Click Cancel to
abort. Reconfigure your firewall settings and try again by running ICQ.exe.
Additional Remote Machines: For any additional Remote Machines on
your network, Do exactly the same procedure as specified in Remote Machine. Use
EXACTLY the same numbers and setup. You only have to look up the IP address of
the Host one time on any one of the remote machines in its HOSTS file.
6. Wingates with IRC: To configure
your IRC client to use a Wingate, simply tell it that you're behind a SOCKS4 or
SOCKS5 (again, depending on the Wingate. Try both and see which one of them
work) and enter the Wingate's IP. If you are asked for a username and a
password, leave these fields blank. Since there are so many IRC clients out
there, I won't explain further and let you explore your own client by yourself.
7. What is a Socks Host? Socks host
is pretty much almost the same thing as wingate except it connects through port
1080. In your settings for proxy server in your internet browser (explorer or
Netscape) you should notice a setting for socks host. You can enter a socks
host. If you have ever used mIRC for IRC, you'll notice a setting for firewall.
In that setting leave the username and password blank, leave the port as 1080
and enter a wingate address in the Hostname, then click Use Socks firewall, and
try either protocol: Socks4 or Socks5 (whichever works for you). Reconnect and
you should notice that your IP address and identify will appear on IRC as if you
are connecting through the same IP address as the socks host. Not all wingates
will work as a socks host. Remember it has to be able to let you connect through
port 1080 or else its no use in irc. Newer IRC daemons can however detect
wingate/socks host connections. With the web, it's not useful. It may or may not
hide your IP address depending the type of websites you are connecting to. For
web anonymity stick to multiple Proxy servers.
8.
Bottom Line: Socks/Wingates and Proxies can hide your identity or
make it harder to detect and log on the Internet, and it may even be legal to do
so in 90% of cases but try not to over do it by thinking that "I'll never get
caught" by going through multiple proxy servers, wingates, or socks hosts.
Remember anyone can be traced back to their original IP address and their ISP.
All it takes is a little co-operation with different Proxy server
administrators, ISP's and a few law enforcement agencies working together.
9. Bibliography For more info on
Proxies and a big list of Proxy servers, wingates, telnet, ftp, and socks hosts
try: http://proxys4all.cgi.net -note:
not all are tested and some might have been shutdown by their administrators.
Also the lists are not updated as often as most people would like. Another
Wingate proxy tutorial: http://www.wingate.net/ ICQ with wingate:
http://www.visions.demon.nl/wingate/
