Build your own Web Proxy in 10 Easy Steps

With the emergence of World Wide Web threats of Identity theft is greatly increased, now people instead of using traditional mail started using Electronic mail as default mode of communication, instead of using cash to buy needed stuffs they started using Credit Card online to buy whatever they wish. This made everything vulnerable to theft of data as well as identity. To get rid of these threats Internet geeks already started using the web proxy to safeguard there Online Security, but using Public Proxy server is still risky as you can not trust people you don’t know.

Here, today I’m going to discuss free and easiest way to build your own Windows based web Proxy Server in simple and easy steps that anyone with basic knowledge of networking & Administrative privilege can use it to increase the label of there Security.

1. Install OpenSSH on your PC
2. Install Privoxy on your PC/Server
3. Now install Putty/PortaPutty and PortableFirefox on your thumbdrive.
4. Now as you have already installed OpenSSH just run it once and make sure SSHD service is running as system account and server is configured to respond on port/socket 443, also make sure you are able to SSH into your server from another machine on the same network.
5. Configure Privoxy to run as a service and make sure port number is set to communicate on default port 8112.
6. Now double click Putty to open its basic configuration window and specify the following:
   • Hostaname(or IP address) : ip_address_of_server
   • Port : 443
   • Protocol : SSH
7. Now Go to SSH>Tunnels, and make the following entry within specified field:
   • Source Port : 8118
   • Destination : 127.0.0.1:8118
   • Click on radio button to select Local, Auto
8. Now Go back to the Session section where you specified Hostname(IPAddress), and Save this whole session with a new name.
9. Now finally Open Firefox and Go to Tools>Option>General tab>Connection Settings and select Manual Proxy Configuration:
   • HTTP Proxy : 127.0.0.1
   • Port : 8118
   • SOCKS v5
10. Save this configuration and you are done.

Now all your web traffic is set to walk through the Proxy Server’s path which is configured in Putty, here in Putty it is configured to reroute all your web traffic to the server you are connecting through port 8118.

Here Thumdrive is used for your mobility and it is optional. For those who want to configure it on there system they can repeat the same with there favorite browser either Opera or IExplorer