In today’s world, the Internet has a great impact on our lives and it seems that everything around us, whether it is our professional life or our personal life, depends a lot on this resource. It has become like a separate digital world where people are spending a large portion of their time and when a person spends some time on the Internet however large or small it be, he/she leaves behind a digital footprint. This digital footprint is a prime resource for hackers and other snooping eyes who are on the hunt for personal information that they can exploit. The need to become anonymous in this digital world is the essential aspect to be considered and can be achieved by using tools like VPN, Tor, Secure Message Service, and Proxy.
Thus, it becomes very important to keep a track of what information about you is exposed on the Internet and there are many ways to maintain our online privacy through which you can become anonymous while using the Internet. Some of these ways are mentioned here-
Use a VPN:
A VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network” and VPN is a recently developed technology that has become rapidly popular among Internet users. A VPN provides a safer network by creating an encrypted connection over a less secure Internet connection. Simply put, it encrypts all of your data traffic, transferring it to a server that is physically located somewhere else. A VPN is an effective way to become anonymous on the Internet since it protects our original IP Address and makes it look like we are connecting to the Internet from some other network. A VPN provides safety against the Internet Service Provider by creating secured VPN tunnels that require tokens, passwords, or other authentication methods to gain access. Today the VPN industry has grown at a very large scale and there are VPN services available according to the user’s requirements.
Use Virtual box:
A virtual machine is an imitation of an actual computer system that provides the functionalities of a physical computer on the basis of certain computer architectures. A Virtual Box is a virtualization tool that acts like a container wherein the applications and the guest operating systems can run. It is designed to function in isolation from the main device and so with the help of a virtual box, you can conceal your original machine and its identity thereby preventing it from any attacks.
Use TOR:
TOR is the short term for “The Onion Router” and it is arguably the most effective way to conceal your online identity. It was originally developed with the US Navy and basically consists of network servers from all around the globe, allowing its users to browse the Internet anonymously. TOR uses a network of virtual tunnels to disguise a user’s identity by encrypting and moving the traffic across different TOR servers so that it cannot be traced back to the user. In terms of security, TOR is the best choice but there are just a few drawbacks like the TOR server speeds are slower than normal servers, and many sites have blocked access to their website through a TOR server. You should use the TOR browser to become anonymous while surfing the Internet.
Also, Read- What is the TOR browser? And how to Setup for Daily Usage
Use incognito- Easy Way to become Anonymous:
Every browser available today provides an option for incognito browsing mode. This is because regular browsing stores your online information in the form of cookies and these cookies can be compromised to recover data. Also, applications like Facebook and Google can track your online movements in the regular browsing mode. All these problems can be solved by using the incognito mode wherein none of your browsing histories is recorded, the browser does not store any cookies or data and it makes you invisible to the other people on the device.
Secure message:
By using Secure message service, messages sent through any medium whether it be an online chatting service or an email account, we can ensure that our online information is not exposed or vulnerable to attacks. An encrypted message protects the user’s privacy because only the sender and receiver can access that message sent via Secure message. Also, since emails have become such a crucial part of our lives, it is very important to use an email service that follows strict security and privacy rules and at no costs, sells, or uses your personal data. This is why it is suggested to use Secure message services like ProtonMail, MailFence, etc. instead of popular emailing services like Gmail that sell your data and make billions out of it, putting your privacy and security at stake.
Adblocker- Simple Way to become Anonymous:
In the present times, if a new product is launched in the market, it will not be a success until and unless it is properly advertised. The advertising market has changed drastically and has highly shifted its focus toward digital advertising. Now the large players in this industry tack your each and every move online, collect this data, and then try to sell products through advertisements based on your online history. Using a powerful ad-blocker reduces the risk of exposure of your online data and becomes anonymous thereby reducing the possibility of your personal information being vulnerable to attackers.
Use proxy:
Using a proxy server is another way to ensure online anonymity. A proxy server acts as an intermediate application between the server and the client that wants to access some resources from the server. Unlike a VPN that provides an entirely different network to the user, a proxy server just acts as a middle man between the client and the server. The proxy server acts as a blanket around your IP address since the requested server sees only the IP address of the proxy server which hides your identity from the web host.
Use file shredder:
It happens a lot of times that we store sensitive information on our device or on online platforms and after the work is done, we forget about it. These files still remain stores on your system and if an attacker retrieves them, it can be very problematic for you. The best practice here is to scrape off these files that are no longer in use but still contain useful data. This can be done using special tools or services available on your system known as “File shredder”. It is similar to a physical file shredder and shreds of the unwanted files and data from your system. The file shredder plays an important role to become anonymous and erase the information in files.
So, to conclude, it is a very important aspect to secure our online presence and become anonymous while using the Internet since individual online privacy is very crucial for a large number of reasons. The above mentioned are some of the methods through which you can conceal your online identity and become anonymous on the Internet.