How to hide your ip

How to Truly Browse Without Leaving a Trace

HideIP Admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:09:40 +0000

Most of the modern browsers (Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.x, Chrome, Opera 10, etc.) expose a so called private mode that enables you browsing the web without leaving any traces of data on your computer. But is this mode really private?

Though it goes by different names in different browsers (InPrivate, Private Browsing, Incognito), the idea is the same; they keep your online journeys hidden by deleting or rejecting cookies, not tracking history, and emptying the cache when you quit.

The problem

Unfortunately, these tricks only solve part of the privacy equation, and dedicated snoops could still see what sites you’re visiting. Let take a look and see how these private browsing modes fail to truly cover your tracks, and how to better hide your browsing habits (for whatever reasons you might have).

Cached DNS Entries and Flash cookies

The big problems are the DNS cache and Flash cookies, neither of which are covered by browsers’ privacy controls. DNS, which is often described as the Internet equivalent of a phone book, translates Web site names (such as Switched.com) into IP addresses (e.g., 127.0.0.1). These IP addresses are saved locally to speed up access to those pages in the future. Private browsing modes don’t clear this cache, which means that somebody could tell what sites you’d been visiting just by looking at locally stored IP addresses, even if you’d cleared your browser history.

Flash-powered sites, like regular HTML Web sites, use cookies to track things such as whether you’re logged in, what videos you view, and other such useful information. (They can also be used to track what you do for nefarious purposes, but that’s not our concern today.) Sadly, while browsers’ privacy settings clear out the cookies that Web sites deposit, they leave Flash data alone. That means that everything from your viewed videos to Web sites will be clear as day to anyone who peeks in your Flash “#SharedObjects” folder.

Cleaning these things up is as easy as typing “ipconfig /flushdns” into the command prompt (or ‘Run’ box, whichever you prefer), and deleting the contents of “%appdata%\Macromedia\Flash Player\#SharedObjects“.

The Solution

The best solution is to install CCleaner and create your own batch file to run after your browsing session, to make sure your browser cache, Flash cookie cache, and DNS entries are cleaned out. Just create a new plain text file and save it as a .bat file (e.g., browserclean.bat), then add the following to the file, noting that the /AUTO switch tells CCleaner to run silently.

“C:\Program Files\CCleaner\CCleaner.exe” /AUTO
ipconfig /flushdns

Once you’ve created the file and saved it into some useful location, you can create a shortcut on your desktop, quick launch bar, or pin it to your start menu.

Visit Lifehacker for a more in-depth look at how ‘private browsing’ modes fail.

Important! You have to remember that private mode does not hide your IP address, it only erases your browsing history!

[Via Lifehacker.com & Switched]

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How to Truly Browse Without Leaving a Trace

7 VPN Services To Anonymize Your P2P/Torrent Traffic

HideIP Admin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:27:14 +0000

Most VPN providers have a disclaimer or clause in their TOS which excludes the use of their services for P2P traffic of an any nature (illegal or not). Many VPN servers got suspended lately by hosting providers due to DMCA complaints, so VPN providers are very careful when it comes to P2P/torrent traffic.

I have made a research and found 7 VPN services that still can be used for anonymizing your torrent traffic. Here they are:

ItsHidden

ItsHidden is a free VPN that works on BitTorrent (BT) traffic including uploading and downloading transfer. Thus, it’s useful for users who torrent traffic been throttled by their ISP, or users who need to hide themselves for anti-piracy organizations from sharing copyrighted materials.

IP Address Location: Netherlands

[ItsHidden Home] [ItsHidden Review & How to use]

HideMyAss

HideMyAss Pro VPN is an easy to use application which anonymously encrypts your entire internet connection. The tool automatically works with any application or protocol including p2p/bit-torrent.

IP Address Location: US/UK/NL/DE/CA/SE

[HideMyAss][HideMyAss Reviews]

BolehVPN

BolehVPN provides a service to; bypass your internet throttle – allowing you to download torrents at max speeds, protect your surfing privacy, and bypass websites censored by your ISP. All this in one easy setup.

IP Address Location: EU/US

[BolehVPN]

AceVPN

AceVPN is a VPN service that you can use to privately and securely surf and download on the internet without leaving a trace and/or being tracked. AceVPN allows P2P traffic only for premium accounts.

AceVPN requests their users to limit the upload and the download speed to 100kbps, so that it does not affect other users on the network.

IP Address Location: US

[AceVPN][AceVPN Reviews]

CyberGhost

CyberGhost is a free VPN service with servers located in Germany. Actually, it’s a commercial VPN service that also has a free version. The free version, called Basic, it’s limited 10GB a month broadband usage. The P2P/torrent is allowed but with traffic limitations.

IP Address Location: Germany

[CyberGhost Home] [CyberGhost Review & How to use]

PacketiX VPN

PacketiX.NET online test service is a free VPN service offered by SoftEther. It is a test platform for developing PacketiX VPN 2.0, a high-security VPN system. This service can be used to browse with Japanese IP address.

IP Address Location: Japan

[PacketiX VPN Home] [PacketiX VPN Review & How to use]

BTGuard

BTGuard reroutes all your BitTorrent traffic through servers in Canada. This means that anyone who connects to you via BitTorrent, will see BTGuard’s IP, and not yours. BTGuard is simple to install and use – just download and install. For more advanced users, you can also configure your own BitTorrent client.

IP Address Location: Canada

[BTGuard Home] [BTGuard Reviews]

Do you know other VPN services that allow P2P traffic?

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7 VPN Services To Anonymize Your P2P/Torrent Traffic

Hulu Blocks International Access Via Witopia

HideIP Admin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:22:38 +0000

If you’re outside the US, the easiest method for accessing Hulu, is using a US-based VPN, which tricks Hulu into thinking their computer is within the US. Initially Hulu started cracking down on free VPN services such as Hotspot Shield, but now it’s turned its attention to Witopia – which costs $40 or $US60 per year but offers a faster, more secure and more reliable service than its free competitors. Initially Witopia’s LA gateway remained unaffected, but now Hulu has blocked this as well.

Publicly Witopia is saying very little about the Hulu situation although, from what I’ve seen on the forums, Witopia is trying to help affected customers.

Other VPN services are also blocked

It seems that Hulu has started to block a lot of VPN services. I’m a subscriber of HideIpVPN Premium VPN and they also had the same problem but they solved it quickly. Now, I am able to watch Hulu again.

What VPN service do you use to unblock Hulu?

[via PCAuthority.com.au]

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Hulu Blocks International Access Via Witopia

Poll: What is the best hide IP tool of 2009?

HideIP Admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:16:33 +0000

The end of the year is approacing quickly bringing reflections on the year past and plans for the year to come. Here, at How-to-hide-ip.info, it’s time to evaluate the hide IP solutions that have protected our privacy during last year. I have selected and listed 20 of the most popular (user- reviewed) applications listed on Hide-IP-Tools.com (take a look below), and set up a poll. Now, it’s time for you to decide!

The last year’s winner, IP Hider, is again in strong position, being one of the favorites. There are also several newcomers like HideIpVPN and Freedur.

The tools are listed in alphabetical order. If you think there are other solutions that should be on this list post a comment and I will add them.

And now … start voting!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Post from: How to hide ip

Poll: What is the best hide IP tool of 2009?

Orbot – Anonymous Browsing on Android using Tor

HideIP Admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:16:28 +0000

About one month ago I presented TorProxy, an Android application developed by a group of researchers at the University of Cambridge that allow users to browse the web anonymously. TorProxy is a pure Java implementation of Tor based on OnionCoffee.

Several days ago, another Android application for anonymous browsing was released: Orbot. The Android app manages installation, bundles the Tor binary, provides the user interface and contains a built-in HTTP proxy.

“We have successfully ported the native C Tor app to Android and built an Android application bundle that installs, runs and provides the glue needed to make it useful to end users…. secure, anonymous access to the web via Tor on Android is now a reality,” writes Guardian Project team member Nathan Freitas.

The development team beleaves that their C implementation is significantly better than the Java-based ports of Tor (like TorProxy). This translate to a better experience for the user, with no noticeable increase in battery drain or lag on the rest of the device while Tor is running in the background.

Developers would like to get Orbot ready for a 1.0 release as soon as possible and they are looking for some volunteers to lend a hand. The team also needs help modifying the privacy-focused Android browser, Shadow to make it work with Orbot’s HTTP proxy. If you want help them leave a comment on Nathan Freitas’s blog.

[Via Ostatic.com]

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Orbot – Anonymous Browsing on Android using Tor

IP Hider – Version 4.7 and Free Licenses Available

HideIP Admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:10:35 +0000

October seems to be the month of new releases for hide ip tools. After Hotspot Shield and Invisible Browsing, IP Hider has a new version available for download. Version 4.7 does not bring major UI changes, but:

Provides better anonymity
Works better while auto-configures browsers
Exposes better proxies

Those that have purchased IP Hider during last 6 months an older version of IP Hider, can upgrade to version 4.7 for free, while the others can upgrade to the latest version for $8.99.

How to get a free license of IP Hider 4.7

AllAnonymity has published some condition that allow you win a license for IP Hider 4.7. Check out the conditions here.

[IP Hider 4.7 Home & Download][Review IP Hider on Hide-IP-Tools.com]

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IP Hider – Version 4.7 and Free Licenses Available

AnchorFree Introduces New Local Language Feature and Updated Mac Version for Hotspot Shield

HideIP Admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:43:37 +0000

AnchorFree, the creator of Hotspot Shield, announced the newest release of Hotspot Shield on Windows, which allows millions of users worldwide to access customized versions of the popular online security tool in seven supported languages. In addition, AnchorFree also released an updated Macintosh version of Hotspot Shield.

The new version of Hotspot Shield allows users to customize the product to their local environment by setting language preferences. Hotspot Shield is now available in English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Russian and Vietnamese languages.

AnchorFree also released a new Mac version that features far greater functionality for Apple users, including:

Better global accessibility;
Faster connection speeds;
Improved user interface;
An installer that makes the launch of Hotspot Shield faster; and
The ability for users to share feedback and product suggestions.

“No matter what language users speak or what Operating System they use, we want our users to know that Hotspot Shield will be there to keep them secure and private online,” said David Gorodyansky, founder and CEO of AnchorFree. “AnchorFree is always looking to make Hotspot Shield more user-friendly so people can easily access all Web content privately and securely, from anywhere in the world and with the fastest connections possible.”

The new version is available for download on Anchorfree.com.

[Via PR Inside] [AnchorFree] [Review Hotspot Shield on Hide-Ip-Tools.com]

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AnchorFree Introduces New Local Language Feature and Updated Mac Version for Hotspot Shield

Get 1-Month FREE US and UK Premium VPN

HideIP Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:29:54 +0000

VPNs are probably the best way to hide your IP address and to unblock video streaming sites with restricted access, like Hulu and BBC iPlayer. About 1 month ago I was presenting HideIpVPN, a service that offers both US and UK servers in the same package for only $9.99. This feature, together with the connection speed provided (take a look below), make HideIpVPN ideal for watching videos over the Internet.

US server speed test:

UK server speed test:

How to Get 1-Month FREE US and UK Premium VPN

Today, I have discovered that you can get 1-month free for the US/UK premium account. The promotion was posted on Twitter. Here is what you have to do to get your account:

1. Go to HideIpVPN Twitter account.
2. Find the tweet regarding the promotion (take a look below).
3. Click on the suggested link.
4. Use the promo code TWITTER1 and create your account.
5. The account will be activated and you have 1-month free UK and US VPN.

[HideIpVPN] [Review HideIpVPN on Hide-IP-Tools.com]

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Get 1-Month FREE US and UK Premium VPN

Invisible Browsing 7.4 Available For Download

HideIP Admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:54:42 +0000

Amplusnet has released a new version of their top product, Invisible Browsing. Version 7.4 does not have any design related changes because there were made technical improvements. The online anonymity feature was improved, in order to provide a more stable application and better online protection for our users. Also the proxy list was updated and more proxies for all over the world were added.

You can download and test the new version and see how easy is to protect your online privacy.

[Invisible Browsing Home] [Review Invisible Browsing on Hide-IP-Tools.com]

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Invisible Browsing 7.4 Available For Download

CheckMyTorrentIp – Verify your torrent VPN or Proxy is always working

HideIP Admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:07:42 +0000

This post was written by Danny Carpenter, the creator of CheckMyTorrentIp, a great torrent tool. If you are interested in finding more details, you can contact him directly on mytorrentip at gmail.

If you’re a Bittorrent user who subscribes to anonymizing services like VPNs or proxies, how do you verify your IP address is always hidden? If you’re using a web browser to check your Bittorrent IP address, this may leave you exposed in the long run.

CheckMyTorrentIp offers a novel approach to accurately monitoring your IP, it’s a torrent tracker that hands out a legal torrent to each user. Because no one else has your torrent, the CheckMyTorrentIp tracker can monitor and display your Bittorrent IP address directly in your torrent software:

Your IP history is also available on the site and you can expunge your data with a single click:

And since there are 0 seeders, you don’t download anything else, so you can leave the torrent active for as long as you wish.

Why is checking your IP address with a web browser not good enough?

For starters you can’t check your IP continuously all day long, and if you’re using a proxy or firewall, your torrent software may use a different IP address then your browser.

There are various ways your IP address can leak. VPNs all suffer from the same weakness, the connection will drop at some point and this may expose your personal IP address. Unless you’re next to your PC when this happens, you may not even realize this is occurring.

With proxies, they can be incorrectly configured or unknowingly unset, and if you’ve left DHT and UPnP turned on, your personal IP address will leak even if your proxy is configured correctly. Another common way is if you have other people using your PC. They may not be familiar with your setup and inadvertently expose your connection. Yet another way is in firewalls that route torrent traffic through a secure connection. The configuration can be faulty or become unset. Bugs in torrent software and public/private P2P networks can also play a role in exposing your IP address.

About CheckMyTorrentIp.com

The FAQ on CheckMyTorrentIp.com outlines in detail the items above and covers steps you can take to resolve them.

I created CheckMyTorrentIp after my best friend kept asking me to debug his VPN setup. After realizing there didn’t exist a service like this, I slapped together some code and put it online. When it comes to privacy, I believe anything below 100% protection is as good as no protection and I thank how-to-hide-ip.info for allowing me to disseminate this helpful tool to a larger audience.

[CheckMyTorrentIp]

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CheckMyTorrentIp – Verify your torrent VPN or Proxy is always working