A Review Of The Best Commercial International Anonymizers

International anonymizers allow us to guard privacy by surfing at second-hand and hiding our true IP (Internet Protocol) address. They are also known by many other names, such as anonymous surfing programs, anonymizers, proxy anonymizers and proxy surfing programs.

Many anonymizers also provide Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protection, so that the connection from our computer to the server is encrypted and the data between connections cannot be seen. In other words, no-one knows who we are or what we're doing... total privacy!

If you're not sure about the risks to your identity and personal data when not using secure international anonymizers, then please read Who Is Monitoring Us When We're Online? and What Information Is Recorded When We're Online?

Here, we shall be discussing and taking a look at the best commercial international anonymizers.

There are two international anonymizers that I use on my PCs for browsing and which I particularly recommend. Let me tell you about those first, then we'll look at a couple of other anonymizers.

All have a free trial, allowing you to test the advantages of anonymous surfing with an international anonymizer before making your investment.

So, this is what we'll cover...

1. Anonymizer's Anonymous Surfing
2. StealthSurfer for mobile and home users
3. Tenebril's GhostSurf Platinum
4. Other Anonymizers

1. International Anonymizers... Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing

Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing has developed a lot of credibility since it's inception in 1995. What gave me the confidence to try Anonymizer began with various news reports about its use by the U.S. government.

It has been cumulatively and consistently used by government departments and strongly suggests a confidence in its abilities. Here are some examples...

• American military and intelligence services use it to scan foreign Internet sites without leaving their intelligence computer IP in the website logs.
• In 2003, the U.S. government funded Anonymizer to create and maintain a special version of the Anonymizer proxy to provide Iranians with free access to its Web proxy service. This free access was designed to circumvent the Iranian government's online censorship efforts.
• Anonymizer has launched a similar project recently for China to help nationals overcome the very strict censorship laws there.

Although there is this vote of confidence in Anonymizer, I continue to use the product for its reliability and functionality...

• Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing, masks our IP address through a Socks proxy, which also uses secure servers with 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, similar to that used by banks. This encrypted connection between our computer and the international anonymizers servers ensures none of our surfing content can be seen and read by anyone.
• The service also protects us from phishing, pharming or spyware Web sites. If we unknowingly visit one of these sites, a warning page will display to notify us of the hidden danger.
• Anonymizer also provides wireless security. It secures all the data we send online, whether it's from home, business network or a hotspot.
• Anonymous Surfing is both easy to install and to use -- you control whether it is 'ON' or 'OFF' by clicking on an icon in your toolbar or on your screen.

  Encryption can also be switched 'OFF', speeding up the connection but still hiding identity.

Try the FREE Anonymous Surfing Trial.

If you decide to purchase Anonymizer, you can get a further 15% discount by entering the code 'cj15', when checking out.

2. International Anonymizers... StealthSurfer

The reason I've listed StealthSurfer as my second choice of the international anonymizers is because it uses Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing as its core program, as well as some other cool features... but more of that later.

I'll say upfront that I haven't used StealthSurfer yet, as I'm already using Anonymizer. But when my Anonymizer subscription runs out, I shall be purchasing StealthSurfer for a number of reasons. Let me explain further...

StealthSurfer is a thumb-sized flash storage drive that plugs into the USB drive on your computer. It includes...

1. Anonymizer's Anonymous Surfing
2. The Firefox browser
3. Thunderbird email client
4. HushMail, an anonymous email account
5. RoboForm, an encrypted program that automatically fills forms, logs onto websites and manages passwords

Each of the software programs above is automatically updated as a new version is released.

Privacy And Anonymity On Any Computer

The attraction here, of course, is that you can operate on different computers anonymously and without leaving any of your traces on the PC... whether your employer's, in your home or small office, Internet cafes or other public facilities.

By slipping StealthSurfer into the USB port of any computer, you instantly have all the privacy protection you require.

What this means is that all your sensitive Internet files such as cookies, Internet history, downloads and email are stored on the StealthSurfer USB device instead of the computer you are using.

So, you can see why this international anonymizer is ideal for those using more than just one computer... your computer privacy protection is completely portable and it means you don't have to buy an additional Anonymizer subscription for each of your computers.

If you are using your own individual PC only, then it is more cost effective for you to just download a copy of Anonymizer Anonymous Surfing.

However, if you use your employer's (or anyone-else's) computer for personal use and don't want to leave your Internet surfing and email on the company's servers, then this small, portable device is worth considering.

There is a 30 day money back guarantee and more information can be found at StealthSurfer Information.

3. International Anonymizers... Tenebril's GhostSurf Platinum

The second of the international anonymizers I use is GhostSurf Platinum. There is also GhostSurf, Tenebril's standard anonymizer. I'll distinguish the differences between the two as we look at the features they have...

1. A Privacy Control Center, which enables adjustment of the level of information given out by our PC as we browse the Net. This let's us individually switch 'ON' or 'OFF' the blocking of cookies, encryption and IP address masking.

2. These international anonymizers also mask identity and encrypts IM messages, newsgroup and IRC traffic.
3. Tracks Cleaner enables us to wipe awaytraces of our surfing, as well as any files we want to eradicate. It offers a variety of wiping strengths, from adequate to military-grade.
4. Identity Theft Protection, which works by maintaining a database of known phishing and pharming Websites.
5. SpyCatcher, which is a very effective anti-spyware program that works in real-time. The Spyware Profiling Engine protects us from next-generation, mutating spyware, including rootkits.
6. Personal Data Vault, a password-protected, encrypted folder to store your confidential documents.
7. AdArmor eliminates advertisements while your'e browsing, including pop-ups, ActiveX, flashing text, sound and animated images.

The cheaper Ghostsurf has the features 1-4, and GhostSurf Platinum additionally has SpyCatcher, Personal Data Vault and AdArmor.

My reason for going for the international anonymizers Platinum version was to have SpyCatcher as an extra spyware program on my PC. If you read Spyware Remover Evaluation Of Popular AntiSpyware Programs, you'll hear that you need at least two good spyware programs to have any chance of removing the majority of spyware from your PC... and it tells you which free and buy programs are the most effective.

So, it's worth giving either version of GhostSurf's international anonymizers a free trial for 30 days. Here are the links for more information and a direct download for the trial.

PLEASE NOTE... The GhostSurf trials have a direct download, so when you click on the links below, you'll get a download box appear. Click the 'save to disk' button and save the download to your desktop or to a folder for storing your downloads. Click on the saved program and follow the instructions for installation...

• GhostSurf Platinum Information
• GhostSurf Platinum 30 day free trial
• GhostSurf Information
• GhostSurf 30 day free trial

4. International Anonymizers... Other Anonymizers

I. NetConceal Anonymizer

NetConceal Anyonymizer uses a Socks proxy to hide your IP address when browsing, sending Web-based email, chat and P2P. However, it does not provide encryption. If you'd like a secure, encrypted connection, then this program isn't for you.

II. Anonymity 4 Proxy

When Anonymity 4 Proxy is installed on your computer, it also installs a database of hundreds of anonymous public proxy servers.

You can set the program to perform in various ways. For example, you can choose to have an encrypted proxy, and you can change servers automatically or manually. Why would you choose manually? Because you may want to choose a protocol (FTP or HTTPS) which works more efficiently with another server.

If you have a home or business network, you can set up your network so that all the computers connect only via Anonymity 4 Proxy.

What puts me off this international anonymizer is it doesn't use it's own proxy servers and so doesn't have any control over your data that passes through these servers. This could be an unecessary risk to privacy and security.

You'll find more details at Anonymity 4 Proxy.

5. International Anonymizers... Supporting Articles

1. What Are Commercial And Free Proxy Anonymizers?
   How proxy anonymizers work and protect us.
2. Commercial And Free Anonymous Web Surfing Stops This Monitoring When We're Online
   As soon as we connect to the Internet, organizations, authorities and individuals are after our identity and other personal information.
3. Commercial And Free Anonymous Web Surfing Stops Our Personal Information Being Recorded
   Unless we use commercial or free anonymous web surfing, this identifying information is easily collected.
4. The Pros and Cons Of Commercial And Free Proxy Anonymizers
   Get to know the distinctive differences between commercial and free anonymizers before choosing your anonymizer.
5. The Different Types Of Anonymous Surfing Tools
   There are a number of different tools for anonymous surfing, each having different capabilities for anonymity and data security. Here's what to look for in making your choice.
6. Free Proxy Anonymizers Reviewed
   If you have decided to try out a free anonymizer, here are some of the better products to choose from.
7. Anonymizer Versus GhostSurf Review
   Two of the best anonymous surfing tools... but how do they stack up against each other?

8. Commercial and Free Encrypted Tunnel Proxy... The Role Of SSL And SSH
   For complete security, we need to encrypt our connection so no third party can intercept or view what we are doing. SSL and SSH are the key, so here's what they do.
9. A Review Of Commercial And Free Encrypted Tunnel Proxy And VPN Programs
   How a tunnel proxy and VPN provides more security than a standard proxy anonymizer.
10. Anonymous Email Service Free And Commercial
    How to anonymize and encrypt your confidential emails.

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