Parsing. How SOCKS proxies work: pros, cons, differences from other technologies

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On the modern Internet, where the question of ensuring anonymity is becoming increasingly acute, many people begin to think about what tools to use for this. There is often confusion here, since not everyone understands the aspects of existing technologies. And there are a huge number of them, and even solving the same task of hiding a real IP address can be implemented in different ways.
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Today we will talk about SOCKS-proxy technology, the principles of its operation, advantages and differences from other tools for ensuring anonymity on the Internet.

Note : this is an analysis for those who are not completely aware of the details of the work of this technology and its differences from other tools, in this topic we do not pretend to an in-depth analysis.

What it is

SOCKS is an Internet protocol that is used to transfer data packets from server to client using an intermediate proxy server. Today it is the most advanced mass technology for organizing proxies. When using it, traffic passes through a proxy server that uses its own IP address, from which the final connection to the desired destination is already underway.

The most recent protocol specification is SOCKS5. It uses UDP and TCP connections to forward traffic. SOCKS5 also uses several authentication methods:

• Null authentication - in this case, you do not need to go through the authentication procedure to connect to the proxy;
• login and password authentication - the connection is established after entering the correct credentials;
• GSS-API authentication - both client and server use authentication methods that work at the OS level.

Why use SOCKS proxies

There are several reasons for using SOCKS proxies, here are two main ones:

Lock bypass

The most obvious use of a proxy is to hide a real IP address for some reason, for example, to bypass locks. For example, if a certain IP address is on the black list of a site, it will be enough to use a proxy to access it.

In some cases, blockages imposed by state bodies can be overcome in this way. However, there are some limitations here - when using DPI technology (deep packet inspection), traffic will be blocked at the level of the Internet provider even before it reaches the site. In this case, just a proxy will not help.

An important point. Some HTTP proxies can only work with web pages, and SOCKS5 can handle any traffic. Such proxies work at a lower level.

Increase speed and productivity.

Other varieties of SOCKS technology worked with the TCP protocol, and new proxies can also process UDP traffic.

TCP is a protocol with guaranteed message delivery between the client and server. TCP is a protocol with guaranteed message delivery between the client and server. It is also a streaming protocol. In UDP, the delivery of all packets is not a guaranteed condition, and it is a packet protocol. Its use allows you to forward traffic faster, because it does not take time to re-send failed packets, and the analysis of data packets is faster than flows.

SOCKS5 proxies never change the headers of data packets, which happens when using other types of proxies. This allows you to improve the performance of traffic forwarding. However, there are some drawbacks here - headers can also contain personal data of users, which means that, in theory, it will be possible to find out.

SOCKS and VPN: what is the difference

Not all proxy providers write about this, but the main difference when using SOCKS and VPN is the level of anonymity that can be achieved. In the case of VPN, all transmitted data is encrypted, which is not the case with SOCKS proxies.

It is important to understand that proxies allow you to hide the IP address and solve a number of other tasks (such as bypassing locks), but they themselves are not a tool to ensure privacy. The proxy user can be calculated and intercepted his traffic.

However, using a proxy in combination with a VPN allows you to achieve good speed and better protect sensitive information.

Useful links and materials from Infatica :

• Resident proxy network for 1.2+ million addresses
• Research: creating a blocking proxy service using game theory
• The history of the fight against censorship: how the flash proxy method created by scientists from MIT and Stanford works
• How to understand when proxies are lying: verification of physical locations of network proxies using the active geolocation algorithm
• How to disguise yourself on the Internet: compare server and resident proxies