Hide your Identity: 6 ways to remain anonymous while surfing the internet

It is a well known fact that governments all over the world are increasing surveillance on their citizens. Their reasons are many. Our surfing habits and online activities are being monitored. Internet privacy has become a big issue all over the world. In India, the situation is not that different. It is just that Indian intelligence agencies  are all shrouded in a cloak of secrecy and the public doesn't  have any idea what is going on. For all we know, all our emails, facebook messages and google searches are being filtered and analyzed for suspected terror links. But that is just an assumption, although the truth can't be far from it. Universities and companies also log their students' and employees' surfing habits. The problem with this kind of surveillance is that our privacies are violated. The filtering is usually done at your router (IT Department) or the ISP. To bypass the filtering, you need to go past them. So, for all those who want to stay anonymous when surfing the internet, I am listing here several ways to do that. Please note that this information is for educational purposes only. 

1. Onion Routing

Onion routing is probably the best way to remain anonymous online. In this, Messages are repeatedly encrypted and then sent through several network nodes called onion routers. The best example is TOR . A person who uses TOR is almost untraceable. TOR is available free of cost and can be downloaded and used by anyone. The only drawback is that it is very slow. 

2. VPN

Virtual Private Networks are another good way to evade firewalls and traffic filtering. It is fairly easy to setup a VPN connection. You need to download a VPN client and connect to the server. I would recommend OpenVPN as a client  as it is completely free. VPNBOOK provides a good VPN server and I use it to bypass my college firewall. Best of all, it is free and unlimited. 

Here is a list of the best VPN providers.

3. Web based proxies

Websites record your IP address every time you visit them.  They may use this to track you. Some countries block certain websites. Web based proxies can be used to bypass these hurdles. The good thing is that you just need a browser, no other setup required. On the downside, If the firewall or proxy blocking is good, most web proxied are probably blocked. But no harm in trying, right? 

Here is a list of web proxies http://www.freeproxy.ru

4. SSH tunneling

In SSH tunneling, you create a secure shell "tunnell" through the internet to a safe site, from where your data will be passed on to the website or server you are accessing.  For this, you need a safe and secure SSH shell account somewhere on the internet. There are plenty of free shell accounts online. If you are using windows, you will connect to them(online shell accounts)  using an SSH client such as Putty. Learn how to do ssh tunneling here

Here is a list of the best free shell accounts. 

5. Buy a fake sim card , use internet from it

All right, this one sounds a bit shady. But if you are one of those people who are paranoid about your online safety and privacy, you can buy a sim card in the black market and use the internet from there. In India, such sim cards are not difficult to get (I think). 

6. Use random wifi hotspots

If you are in an urban setting, you can drive around town in a car and use people's wifi hotspots. Many cafes and malls provide free wifi. Some people leave their wifi open, making them an easy target. Some people still use WEP encryption, so it won't be difficult to crack. You can use their internet and simply drive away when you are done.