The internet may provide numerous benefits for businesses. Besides the ability to reach a global market and the flexibility to transact and build a brand from the comfort of your living room, it is a rich source of information that can help businesses in numerous areas such as:
- Improving decision making
- Making it easy to understand the target market and produce customer-responsive goods
- Enabling competitive pricing
- Helping with keyword research that facilitates organic traffic
- Quickening the process of collecting quality leads for improved sales
But it also comes with the risk that cybercriminals could access your network, get confidential client information, steal sensitive business data, and stall business operations.
An internet security event could lead to loss of funds, lengthy and costly lawsuits, and loss of trust in your brand.
One way to improve your security is by using an HTTP proxy. To better understand HTTP proxies, let’s define HTTP protocols and proxies first.
An HTTP protocol is a form of internet protocol that enables the exchange of files on the internet. These files can take the form of text or multimedia.
A proxy is a server that prevents direct communication between a device connecting to a web server and the web server. The request from the device and response from the web server has to go through the proxy server first.
An HTTP proxy is a form of content filter that uses protocol anomaly detection rules to examine web traffic and prevent attacks on your network when accessing the web.
What is the Purpose of HTTP Proxy?
An HTTP proxy comes with two roles- HTTP client and HTTP server.
HTTP Client
When you connect to web servers to receive information and download content, the HTTP client ensures that your network receives protection. You can add a Web Blocker protection to control the websites that your employees can visit in your network. This will prevent them from visiting malicious sites and putting your business at risk.
HTTP Server
This is where you are able to accept requests from HTTP connections to your business’s public web server. It ensures security is maintained by denying and stopping any attempts to add malicious files to your web server. It also stops attempts to delete vital files of your business on the web server. The HTTP server enables management of your web server, ensures security, and allows caching.
The Benefits of HTTP Proxies
Using an HTTP proxy in your business provides the following four main benefits:
1) It Provides Added Security
There are numerous malicious websites and various forms of security threats on the web today. An HTTP proxy ensures that your brand gets high levels of security and prevents you from being vulnerable. It identifies suspicious packets and content such as spyware before it gets to attack your network, and denies them access to your site.
2) Anonymity
An HTTP protocol makes it possible to access websites without revealing your real IP address. The proxy acts as a go-between, preventing the web server from accessing your information. It protects you from cybercriminals who use IP addresses to spy on businesses’ sensitive data. The proxy IP address comes attached to a specific location, providing an extra layer of protection.
3) Quicker Browsing
An HTTP server enables you to browse the internet fast, and you can complete your projects on time. This is because it uses cache files to keep the frequently requested pages in an easily retrievable form. Your server does not have to make a new request every time you visit these websites. It saves time and bandwidth, and eventually, you get to save money.
4) Access to Blocked Sites
By using HTTP proxies attached to a specific location, you can access Geo-blocked websites. It enables you to have a wider scope when carrying out research, such as web scraping HTTP. The proxy’s IP address also makes it possible to access sites where your IP address is blacklisted.
Key Takeaway
The internet holds significant benefits for businesses, but it also comes with plenty of risks. If you are not careful, the malicious acts of cyber criminals could have you lose the customers’ loyalty and trust that you have worked hard to build. They achieve this by accessing and exposing sensitive customer and business data.
So, what is the purpose of HTTP proxies and their role in improving network security? These proxies provide the following functions:
- Providing anonymity when browsing websites
- Filtering the websites that can be accessed from your network
- Making it easy to manage the requests to your public web server
- Prevent any attempts to add malicious files to your business network
HTTP proxies also enable caching, which makes browsing faster by making frequently accessed websites easily available. HTTP proxies also provide access to geo-blocked sites and restricted content.
Not all vendors will provide quality proxies for your business. Carry out adequate research about your supplier before making your purchase by reading online reviews about them.
