pickaproxy.com blog

German data retention law effective 1/1/2009

We have now setup a Hamachi VPN connection for those wanting to use non-German proxies. First, use your LogMeIn Hamachi software to connect to our "nonDEvpn.pickaproxy.com" network, with password 8qJWqcv8. Then set your proxy to point to "hamachi.pickaproxy.com" with port 18233. That's all you have to do. All communications between your software and our proxy server is encrypted and private over the Hamachi VPN, and your IP address will appear to be in 1 of 32 random non-German countries, which we change every 1-2 hours.

For the Tor crowd, what "non-German" means for us is not only exit nodes that are outside Germany, but also entry nodes (1 of 18 random entry nodes changed every 1-2 hours) that are outside Germany. Relay nodes (middleman nodes) may or may not be in Germany. We currently only restrict relay nodes by way of our global "Currently Excluded Nodes" list, shown on http://www.pickaproxy.com?speak=tor. Eventually we will let our subscribers choose their own "Excluded Nodes" if they want them, either individually, or by excluded or included Country or Continent, or by excluded or included ISP's and Owning Organizations.

EFF: How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)

http://w2.eff.org/Privacy/Anonymity/blog-anonymously.php

LogMeIn Hamachi - a better VPN?

We have provided support for stunnel secure communications between our users' computers and our pickaproxy.com server(s) since May 1, 2008. Today we have added support for LogMeIn Hamachi which may be a better way of doing the same thing.

Initially we are only setting up 3 Hamachi VPN "networks" while we try this out. You can connect to our cavpn.pickaproxy.com "network" from your LogMeIn Hamachi software using password ca487_nx. Then, once you are connected, you can change your proxy settings to cavpn.pickaproxy.com and port 8132 to get access to Canada-only IP Addresses.

Alternatively you can connect to our usvpn.pickaproxy.com "network" using password us92XAM5, then change your proxy settings to usvpn.pickaproxy.com and port 8125 to get access to USA-only IP Addresses. 

Or you can connect to our devpn.pickaproxy.com "network" using password deX3Bc_, then change your proxy settings to devpn.pickaproxy.com and port 8133 to get access to Germany-only IP Addresses.

The LogMeIn Hamachi software encrypts all communications between your computer and our server, so that no one can snoop on it. Not us, your ISP, or anyone else.

Change your proxy settings (how to...)

Lots of questions lately on how to change your proxy settings...

If using Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to Tools | Internet Options | Connections | LAN Settings and select the "Use automatic configuration script" option, with http://www.pickaproxy.com/nonCN.proxy.pac as one example of the PAC files we currently support for tryouts.

As an alternative, you could select the "Use a proxy server for your LAN" option, along with the "Bypass proxy server for local addresses" option, de-select the "Automatically detect settings" option, click the Advanced button, enter "tryout.pickaproxy.com" in the "Proxy address to use" fields for HTTP, Secure and Socks, and enter 8123 in the "Ports" fields.

If using Firefox, go to Tools | Options | Advanced | Network | Connection Settings and select the "Automatic proxy configuration URL" option, with http://www.pickaproxy.com/tryout.proxy.pac as one example of the PAC files we currently support for tryouts.

After this, use your browser to go to https://check.torproject.org or http://www.whatismyipaddress.com or https://www.showmyip.com to confirm that your new proxy settings are geospoofing you!

Other browsers and other programs will have similar ways to change their proxy settings. If you come across something that is giving you grief, let us know and we will find out what you need to do.

Proxy Auto Configuration "PAC" files now available

You can now use our pre-set "PAC" files to specify your proxy settings, which simplifies things a bit. Instead of setting your proxy to tryout.pickaproxy.com and port 8123, you can now specify the "Use automatic configuration script" option (if using Internet Explorer) or the "Automatic proxy configuration URL" option (if using Firefox) or the "Use automatic proxy configuration" option (if using Opera) and use https://www.pickaproxy.com/tryout.proxy.pac as the Address and name and location of the script file. 

• us.proxy.pac is equivalent to us.pickaproxy.com and port 8125
• uk.proxy.pac is equivalent to uk.pickaproxy.com and port 8126
• fr.proxy.pac is equivalent to fr.pickaproxy.com and port 8129
• ru.proxy.pac is equivalent to ru.pickaproxy.com and port 8130
• cn.proxy.pac is equivalent to cn.pickaproxy.com and port 8131
• ca.proxy.pac is equivalent to ca.pickaproxy.com and port 8132
• de.proxy.pac is equivalent to de.pickaproxy.com and port 8133
• nonCN.proxy.pac is equivalent to nonCN.pickaproxy.com and port 18231
• nonDE.proxy.pac is equivalent to nonDE.pickaproxy.com and port 18233
• nonUS.proxy.pac is equivalent to nonUS.pickaproxy.com and port 18225

We will add more functionality and flexibility to our PAC file support at a later time. The plan is for subscribers to be able to define multiple proxy options within a single PAC file for their own use, and to allow PAC files to be updated from our https://www.pickaproxy.com web site so that you do not have to muck about with proxy settings on your computer, other than to do the initial, one-time change to use your PAC file.

Tuesday stuff

A few items to report today:

(1) The Tor Project announced a fix this morning to a major security vulnerability in Debian's OpenSSL packages. We have now upgraded all the Tor software on our pickaproxy.com servers so you do not have to do anything yourself.

(2) When I first checked the number of Tor proxy servers running the new version this morning I found only 3 of them.  (You can check this yourself anytime by going to http://www.pickaproxy.com/?speak=tor. Look for the "Recommended Version Summary" drop-down list on the left.) After upgrading our own servers I see there are now 8 running the new version as of 13:10 pm EDT, leaving about 160 others needing to be upgraded.  This is pretty cool information to have at your fingertips, eh?

(3) The stunnel settings for the non-China proxies are "accept = 8100" and "connect = nonCN.pickaproxy.com:17231". Your proxy settings would be "localhost port 8100" as it would be for any stunnel users, to indicate stunnel was running on your computer in the background waiting for connections to port 8100 from your browser or whatever other program you may be using. (Yes, you could configure your stunnel to run on a different port than 8100 - it is your choice. Check our May 1 blog for more details on stunnel.)

(4) The stunnel settings for the non-Germany proxies are "accept = 8100" and "connect = nonDE.pickaproxy.com:17233".

(5) The stunnel settings for the non-US proxies are "accept = 8100" and "connect = nonUS.pickaproxy.com:17225"

(6) I see that lots of people have been using our pickaproxy.com geospoofing service over the past 25 days since we launched it on a tryout basis. There have been over 15,000 different web sites accessed through it so far. We are still working on improving it, providing more control and more information to our users, and figuring out how best to define and distinguish our free services from subscription services. We are also currently working on a way to let iPhone and iPod Touch users connect to us, we are working on having proxy auto-configuration PAC files for you to simplify changing your proxy settings, and we are designing an Internet Explorer and Firefox toolbar/addon to let you easily control and monitor your pickaproxy.com settings.

News: non-US, non-China, and non-Germany proxies now available

Ever wanted (or needed) to appear to NOT be somewhere while using the Internet? Whatever your reasons, we can now help you if it's the USA, China, or Germany that you do not want to appear to be in.  Try setting your proxy to:

• nonUS.pickaproxy.com port 18225 to avoid being in the USA
• nonCN.pickaproxy.com port 18231 to avoid being in China
• nonDE.pickaproxy.com port 18233 to avoid being in Germany

In "Tor" speak, we make sure in all 3 of these cases that you neither use Exit nodes nor Entry nodes that are in the specific countries.

That reminds me about something that we have not mentioned before, with respect to all the other country-specific proxy settings: we always use "strict" Entry nodes that are NOT in the same CONTINENT as the "strict" Exit nodes we select for you in that country, in order to increase your chances of staying anonymous. One of the acknowledged risks of using the Tor network is exposure to greater surveillance by entities that believe it is their right and responsibility to do so. By setting strict entry nodes that are geographically dispersed from the strict exit nodes you use, we give you greater protection from this potential threat to your privacy. There is more information on the Tor project web site about this.

News: SSL secure access to pickaproxy.com now available

One of the concerns with using pickaproxy.com as your proxy server is that the information you see in your browser, and that you send to web sites, can be monitored more easily than if you did not use a proxy server. The connection between your computer and our server is a single point of access, and if we were so inclined we could watch the content coming and going. This is true for much of the internet, and for any proxy server, and especially true in some countries such as those singled out by Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières) in their November 2005 article The 15 Enemies of the Internet.

We are not doing any such monitoring, first off, and have no plans to do so. But we are now offering a way for you to secure this data flowing between you and our server. This can be done by installing and configuring the open source "stunnel" software on your computer. stunnel has been available for many year, and works by using OpenSSL to encrypt all communication between your computer and our server. You then configure your "proxy" settings and your "stunnel" settings as follows:

• rather than "tryout.pickaproxy.com" and port "8123" you configure your proxy settings to be "localhost" and port "8100", and your stunnel settings to be "accept = 8100" and "connect = tryout.pickaproxy.com:7123"
• rather than "us.pickaproxy.com" and port "8125" you configure your proxy settings to be "localhost" and port "8100", and your stunnel settings to be "accept = 8100" and "connect = us.pickaproxy.com:7125"
• rather than "uk.pickaproxy.com" and port "8126" you configure your proxy as localhost port 8100, and your stunnel as accept = 8100 and connect = uk.pickaproxy.com:7126
• rather than "fr.pickaproxy.com" and port "8129" you configure your proxy as localhost port 8100, and your stunnel as accept = 8100 and connect = fr.pickaproxy.com:7129
• rather than "ru.pickaproxy.com" and port "8130" you configure your proxy as localhost port 8100, and your stunnel as accept = 8100 and connect = ru.pickaproxy.com:7130
• rather than "cn.pickaproxy.com" and port "8131" you configure your proxy as localhost port 8100, and your stunnel as accept = 8100 and connect = cn.pickaproxy.com:7131
• rather than "ca.pickaproxy.com" and port "8132" you configure your proxy as localhost port 8100, and your stunnel as accept = 8100 and connect = ca.pickaproxy.com:7132

stunnel is available for download from http://www.stunnel.org/download/binaries.html and at this time we are not providing support or assistance with installing or configuring stunnel, but we will eventually offer this service. I will say that stunnel configuration is not that difficult, and is done by making changes to the stunnel.conf file.

News: Russia, China and Canada proxies now available

Ok, we decided to add 3 more:

For Russia, use ru.pickaproxy.com and port 8130.

For China, use cn.pickaproxy.com and port 8131.

For Canada, use ca.pickaproxy.com and port 8132.

You're welcome :)

News: US, UK and France proxies now available

We now have 4 ways you can try out our pickaproxy.com service:

To get a random selection of proxies that changes roughly every 10 minutes, change your "proxy" settings to point to tryout.pickaproxy.com and specify port 8123.

To get a selection of proxies that are only in the USA, change your "proxy" settings to point to us.pickaproxy.com and specify port 8125.

For the UK, use uk.pickaproxy.com and port 8126.

For France, use fr.pickaproxy.com and port 8129.

We ask that you limit your use to 1 hour per day at most. These tryouts use the Tor software running on our server as a Tor "client", and they make use of the open source polipo caching web proxy running on our server, to make them work faster. This means that web site pages and images that you visit may end up being saved in our polipo proxy cache for up to 90 days, although in most cases this cache will be cleared every 30 days. We also may keep some logs of your activity for up to 90 days so we can learn from the use of our services and improve upon them, but for your long-term safety and privacy we do not make backup copies of any of our log files or cache files.