This document compares proxies and VPNs. Proxies act as intermediaries between a user's device and the internet and do not encrypt traffic, while VPNs create an encrypted tunnel protecting a user's online activity and hiding their IP address. The document outlines the advantages and disadvantages of HTTP, SOCKS, and various VPN protocols. It concludes that while proxies are cheaper, VPNs provide superior anonymity and security by encrypting all internet activity.

1. Proxies vs. VPN
What’s the difference?

3. Do I need to use VPN or proxy?
• You live in, or are visiting, a country that
engages in Internet censorship or
monitoring of content.
• You don’t want your ISP log, monitor, or
control what you do online.
• You want to hide your IP address so you
can protect your identity and location.

4. Do I need to use VPN or proxy?
• You don’t want search engines, such as
Google and etc ,recording and storing
every Internet search you perform…
• You use the Internet at hotels or other
shared hospitality or public networks.

5. Proxy Servers
A proxy server is a computer that acts as
an intermediary between your computer
and the internet.
Unlike VPN servers, proxy servers do not
have to devote resources to encrypting all
traffic that passes through them!

7. Proxies types
Proxy servers usually communicate with
the internet using one of 2 different
protocols:
1.HTTP
2.SOCKS

9. HTTP Proxy Servers
The HTTP protocol is designed to
interpret traffic at the HTTP level.
because all it is doing is handling HTTP
requests, it is faster than either Socks
proxies or VPN servers.

10. Advantages
1. Cheap (and often free)
2. Will hide your IP from basic checks,
and is therefore ok for accessing some
geo-restricted websites and for
account creation

11. Disadvantages
1. Only useful for accessing websites
2. Clever use of Flash or JavaScript
allows many websites to detect your
true IP
3. HTTP traffic is not encrypted, so
government surveillance systems and
your ISP can see what you are doing

13. SOCKS Proxy Servers
SOCKS servers do not interpret network
traffic at all, which makes them much more
flexible, but because they are usually
handling more traffic, usually slower.

14. Advantages
Can handle any kind of internet traffic
(including torrents POP3,SMTP)

15. Disadvantages
1. Slower than HTTP
2. Each piece of software ( BitTorrent client)
must be configured individually
3. Same security issues as HTTP

17. VPN
Virtual Private Networks create an
encrypted ‘tunnel’ between your
computer and the host server.
your activities, IP addresses you have
visited etc. are all completely hidden from
them behind a minimum of 128-bit
encryption.

19. VPN
However, the VPN server can see what
you get up to on-line, which is why we feel
it vital that a good VPN provider to keeps
no logs.
All internet activity, no matter which
program you use, is now safely routed
through the VPN.

22. VPN types
1. PPTP
2. L2TP
3. OPEN VPN
4. IKEV2
5. SSTP

24. 1. PPTP:very insecure, Fast, Very easy to set
up
2. L2TP:Secure,Easy to set up,Slower than
OpenVPN
3. OpenVPN:Very secure, Open sourcewide
range of encryption algorithms, Needs third
party software

25. 4. IKEV2:Faster than PPTP and L2TP,Very
secure – supports AES 128, AES 192, AES
256.
Not supported on many platforms

27. Advantages
1. Internet activity cannot be spied on by
ISPs or governments
2. High levels of encryption (128-bit to
2048-bit)
3. All internet activity masked

28. Disadvantages
1. More expensive than proxies
2. Can be a bit slow during peak times
3. If VPN provider keeps logs then these
may be obtained by the authorities

29. VPN OR PROXY!?

30. Conclusion
VPN is superior in almost every way to
proxies. It provides vastly improved online
anonymity, and protects your entire on-line
life.
The only real reason for choosing a proxy
service is over VPN is price, which we
understand is a real factor for many

31. Nothing in this world is ever
absolutely 100% secure, so
be careful!

32. References
• https://www.witopia.net/support/why/
• http://lifehacker.com/5940565/why-you-should
• https://www.bestvpn.com/blog/4085/proxies-vs