From: Damaged Justice <frogfarm@yakko.cs.wmich.edu>
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 12:12:53 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: ANON: anonymizer.com thru proxy server is bad news
Message-ID: <199702092015.PAA30654@yakko.cs.wmich.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text



>From: jmccorm@galstar.com (Josh McCormick)
Newsgroups: comp.infosystems.www.misc,alt.anonymous,comp.infosystems.www.browsers.misc,alt.2600,ok.general
Subject: NOT ALWAYS ANONYMOUS: "www.anonymizer.com"
Date: 9 Feb 1997 19:25:46 GMT
Lines: 43
Message-ID: <5dl8bq$6h3@mercury.galstar.com>

THE CLAIM:
> Our "anonymizer" service allows you to surf the web without
> revealing any personal information.

THE PROBLEM:
> If you access The Anonymizer through a proxy server, it may add a 
> variable, such as "HTTP_FORWARDED", that The Anonymizer does not filter 
> out, revealing your true identity.

THE DATA:
> Below is a printout of the variables from an "anonymous" session done 
> through The Anonymizer when accessed through the Squid proxy server.

REMOTE_HOST=darkmatter.infonex.com
REMOTE_ADDR=206.170.114.24
HTTP_USER_AGENT=Mozilla/3.01 (via THE ANONYMIZER!)
HTTP_HOST=sol.infonex.com:8080
HTTP_FORWARDED=by http://galaxy.galstar.com:3128/ (Squid/1.0.20) for 204.251.83.41
HTTP_PRAGMA=no-cache
HTTP_PROXY_CONNECTION=Keep-Alive

THE RESULT:
> A CGI script could see that you were using The Anonymizer to hide 
> yourself, but your true IP address is revealed in the "HTTP_FORWARDED" 
> string.

THE SUMMARY:
> Beware using an anonymous browsing service if you are going through a 
> proxy server. Until they remove the information provided by proxy 
> servers, using their service isn't as anonymous as they say.

THE QUOTE:
> (from The Anonymizer home page) "Many people surf the web under the
> illusion that their actions are private and anonymous. Unfortunately, it
> isn't so." 

=====================================================================
== Josh McCormick             Galaxy Star Systems                  ==
== jmccorm@galstar.com        Providing Quality Internet Access    ==
== Systems Administrator      WWW: http://www.galstar.com/~jmccorm ==
=====================================================================

--
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