HTTP Proxy – Your Own HTTPS Proxy Server

Just how does HTTP proxy authentication work?  The answer to this really depends on the kind of http proxy you are referring to.  There are proxies which require authentication and then there are those which don’t.  The kind of authentication information required depends on whoever setup the proxy in the first place.

The first kind of proxy is one that is public or requires no authentication at all.  This kind of proxy is open to the public and anyone can use it provided they have the IP number and the required port number to access the proxy with.  Using this information anyone around the world can login and surf the internet with a public HTTP proxy and never has to worry about authenticating themselves.  The problem with this kind of proxy is that being public means hundreds of people use it at the same time and this results in extremely slow internet surfing speed.  The only solution to this is to add a level of authentication to the proxy server.

The most common kinds of authentication required by a proxy is that of a username and password.  These username and password will vary and each individual account on the http server can have its own unique login and password.  It may also be possible that every single account has the exact same login and password.  What kind of authentication a proxy server uses depends entirely on the person that sets it up.  However, it is strongly advised that each individual account its own unique login and password to avoid people abusing other accounts on the server.