What is a proxie?
A proxy (or “proxy server”) is an intermediary between a user and a web service (such as a website). When a user connects to a site through a proxy, their requests are first sent to the proxy server, which then forwards them to the target website. Similarly, site responses are first sent to the proxy, which then sends them back to the user.
Proxies are used for a variety of reasons:
- Anonymity: They can hide the user’s real IP address, making it more difficult to trace the user.
- Security: Proxies can filter out harmful content, block access to certain sites, or protect against attacks.
- Circumvention of restrictions: They allow access to content that is geo-blocked or restricted in certain regions.
- Improved performance: Some proxies, called caches, store recent versions of visited websites, allowing those sites to load faster.
