INTRODUCTION:- In this digital era, our information is more public than private. The massive growth of internet users is increasing day by day. What we think we simply search it on the internet. Here privacy becomes a big concern for every internet user, according to ethical hacking courses. There are many genuine reasons why an internet user should stay anonymous. Reasons range from new company's growth to hiding personal information while surfing the internet.
Ethical hacking researcher at the International Institute of Cyber Security says that the Internet is an insecure place for everyone. While surfing the internet everyone should stay anonymous and always use anonymous services.
That’s where anonymous services are used. Many web applications protect internet user privacy while surfing, explain ethical hacking experts.
Anonymity Comes in Two Essential Parts:-
- Browser – This is everyone’s primary source from where a user enters the internet. The browser always tracks user activities on the Internet. It is hard to configure the browser manually so as not to reveal user information.
- Networking Components – Many network devices are used while surfing the Internet. When you search on the internet the request is directly sent to ISP (Internet Service Provider). This means that ISPs can easily watch every internet user all the time and record it.
Anonymous Services:-
- P2P Services – P2P is a decentralized network that transfers data from peer to peer (users to users). This network has no server. It can be secure because no one is watching but can be potentially insecure as anyone can log information about data transfers.
- Proxies:- Proxies act as a gateway between a user and the internet. It’s an intermediary separating end-point users from websites they visit. Proxy provides various levels of security to the internet user, but finding proper working proxies becomes hard. As not all proxies are anonymous, some are insecure.
- VPN (Virtual Private Network) – A VPN connection creates a secure tunnel between two computers so they can communicate securely. It is essential to use VPNs in public networks. It can be insecure as the remote server could log information about the data that you send and receive.
HOW TO BE ANONYMOUS ON THE INTERNET:
Here are some listed products that can be used to stay anonymous while surfing.
ULTRASURF:-
- Ultrasurf VPN is the most popular VPN to stay anonymous.
- This VPN is very lightweight no installation is required, you have to simply download a zip file.
- This VPN is free to use.
- This VPN connects a user to the USA servers to stay anonymous
- Unzip that file and directly run the VPN. The UltraSurf VPN looks like this:-
JONDO:-
- Jon Do is another VPN written in Java. This VPN allows you to stay anonymous.
- Simply download Jon Do VPN and install and connect to external servers. This VPN has limited servers.
- You can also purchase the premium version to get more listed external servers.
PSIPHON:-
- PSIPHON VPN is used to provide internet users with open access to online content.
- Simply download the exe and directly open the exe. No need to install any of the software.
- This VPN is free to use.
- Psiphon gives many options to connect with different countries like – the Netherlands, Russia, the USA, the United Kingdom, etc.
ADVANCED ONION ROUTER:-
- Advanced Onion Router is built to force a program to use a Tor connection.
- This VPN can be customized with lots of features. For using the Advanced Onion Router.
- This VPN is very lightweight and easy to use. No need to install the software simply run it directly.
- For using the Advanced Onion Router set up the tor bridges inside the Advanced Onion Router.
PACKETIX.NET:-
- PacketiX.net is the free VPN service offered by SoftEthen Corp.
- The GUI is very simple and easy to use. Simply configure the new connection.
- This VPN is run as an academic experiment by the University of Tasukuba in Japan.
- This VPN encrypts all your internet activity. The server location is Japan. Although they keep logs of whoever uses this VPN and they are open about it.
TAILS:-
- Tails is a Debian Linux-based OS that is used to surf the Internet anonymously. This OS can be downloaded as an ISO file and then made into a bootable disk for use.
- Tails will automatically configure your internet connection. The GUI is very easy to use. You can surf the Internet anonymously.
- This OS boots live on RAM and is erased when shut down.
- In Tails, all the traffic is routed through TOR.
- If you want to remove your evidence after work, simply use this.
HOW TO SEND ANONYMOUS EMAILS:-
Many anonymous email services are used to send mail. This service is mostly used by the pentesters.
10MINUTEMAIL:-
- 10minutemail is used for signups and activation where you do want to put your original email ID. 10minutemail cannot be used in sending emails.
- This mail service is highly anonymous as it uses a mail ID that is destroyed after 10 minutes.
- If you want to use the same mail, simply click on the 10 more minutes button.
YOPMAIL:-
- Yopmail is a disposable mail service. It is used for activation on other sites where you don’t want to enter your original email ID.
- Be cautious before using this mail service as all mailboxes are public.
- In Yopmail, the account lasts for 8 days. You can only send emails to other Yopmail users.
EMKEI’S FAKE MAILER:-
- Emkei’s Fake mailer is used to send mail to any mail ID.
- You can send mail anonymously. Here you can generate your mail ID. And you can send any file also.
- Below, as you can see we have sent mail to check Emkei’s mailer.
- After sending the mail to the Gmail user. Now we will analyze the header of the received mail.
- In the above screenshot, Here are the details of the mail that has been received from the emkei’s fake mailer.
- In the email header, Here is the name, date, and IP address of the fake mailer.
VUVUZELA
- Vuvuzela is a private messaging service by MIT
- It is a private chat application that hides user details on who you chatting with.
ANONYMOUS SEARCH ENGINES:-
There are many search engines such as – google which is the most common to search for anything on the internet. But when comes to privacy, google lacks because Google logs each and everything that the user is searching using his search engine.
- There are many search engines like Duckduckgo which is powerful. This search engine does not keep any logs. You can use this search engine very easily. Simply go to a web browser and enter duckduckgo.com
- There are some other search engine Startpage. This webpage is combined with Google search results. The search engine is very easy to use it does not log any information. For those who are used to the Google search engine and prefer not to expose their identity can use Startpage.
HOW TO CHECK YOUR ANONYMITY:-
These websites tell you what information web browsers and the websites gather, and demonstrate ethical hacking professionals.
JONDONYM:-
- JonDoNym is the website that tells when any user visits the website. What website can obtain? There are tons of websites that try to gather information about the user.
- JonDoNym provides many features like signatures, cookies, IP Whois, tab history, plugins, and much information that directly violates user privacy.
- In the below screenshot, you will see the information the website has gathered.
- In the above screenshot, the website has gathered IP, Local ISP, location, and traceroute.
- The above information can be used in other hacking activities.
WEBKAY:-
- Webkay is another site tells that information like – Geo Coordinates, hardware, and the software of the user's computer.
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- In the above screenshot, the website has shown many of the data about the user’s browser like the software on which the user is surfing the internet, and hardware specifications. The above information can be used in other hacking activities.
International Institute of Cyber Security ethical hacking researchers always recommend penetration testers to be anonymous when doing black box penetration testing.
