[SOLVED] VPN vs SOCKS

So, i was recently searching about staying anonymous online without leaving a big traces ! The options i was give to use a proxy to hide my IP. While i going through this i found two things which might possible help me:
1.VPN 2.SOCKS
on comparison with this both most of the results where proposing that VPN is best and the obvious reason was that VPN(“Encrypts Traffic”) where as SOCKS(“Doesn’t Encrypt Traffic”) and on agreeing with this fact, i had a slight confusion that then why SCOCKS proxies are used for CARDING ? if VPN is robust!
Someone could clarify this , i surfed through several pages and didn’t find any compromising answer :slight_smile:
Thanks in advance :smiley: <3

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There are different types of Proxies. Here are some of the most common ones.

  1. Residential Proxies -

Residential proxies come from residential IPs. It an IP assigned to a real homeowner by an ISP. Any connection routed through this proxy, will imitate a real person’s behavior and offer high levels of anonymity. It is prudent to note that a residential is an actual address associated with a particular physical location and ISP.

  1. Data Center Proxies -

These are the commonly used proxies. When you see someone using a proxy, the high chances are that they are using a data center proxy. This type of proxies are not affiliated to your ISP or your internet connection – they are independent of both, and their IPs can’t be traced to any ISP. These proxies offer high anonymity levels and IP authentication.

  1. Proxy Rotation (Important One) -

As you all know, an ISP can be able to rotate the IP address. The process is usually a transparent one, and ISPs do that because the number of IPs is fewer than the number of internet users/subscribers. However, in our world today, users rotate IPs and proxies to be able to operate under numerous IP addresses.
A well-configured proxy server will allow you to rotate your IP addresses from a pool of different IP addresses. Rotating proxies will enable you to launch different connections from just a single computer/device. With that made possible, you can carry out data crawling and scrape for your business more efficiently. It is also possible to have a proxy rotator, a software that will do all the rotation work for you.

Why Rotating Proxies?

  • Proxy rotation strengthens your security levels. They ensure that you remain anonymous every time you go online
  • Rotating proxies ease data crawling and scraping – it becomes so hard for sites to trace and block your bot. The main challenge when it comes to gathering data is the fear of your scraper being stuck. To overcome such blocks & bans, you only need to use rotating proxies. These proxies will get your bot past different anti-scraping measures, and you can collect data undetected.
  • Rotating proxies assist SEO firms in checking keyword rankings from different regions and also push their content through social media
  • Rotating proxies are also useful in product page intelligence. These proxies can be used to scrape sites automatically for purposes of performance and analytics.

You can connect to proxies while you are connected to a VPN. This provides encryption(through VPN) and IP rotation(through Proxies). Carding is not as easy as you think. There are professionals on the market who charges money to teach such skills. One who does, needs to take very precautionary measures beforehand. A proxy and VPN does not suffice when serious work is done, some add an extra layer through an RDP or VPS. Since I am not a carder I cannot say if anything else is required. But this is the basics.
I do not take any responsibilities of any illegal action taken through this knowledge.

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What is the difference between a Proxy and a VPN?

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While both of these technologies will keep you anonymous by hiding your IP address, they work in slightly different ways. A proxy acts as a gateway to the software you use it in, for example your ISP is your gateway to the internet, same idea for the proxy to your software, proxys (apart from SSH proxys) are not encrypted but traffic wont reach your network to begin with. An anonymous VPN will protect your entire internet connection the moment you connect to it, disguising your use of everything from utorrent to email to basic web browsing by establishing a virtual network via our servers to reroute all your traffic and DNS.

Proxy Service:

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Think of a proxy server as a gateway. You have control over proxy settings, which only affect your torrent client (utorrent, bittorrent, vuze, ect) or any other program that supports socks5 proxies. A proxy only provides IP masking to one application at a time. When you download and seed torrents or browse the web, all your traffic is routed through the anonymous proxy server and directly to you. This means that peers in the torrent swarm will not see your IP address, but rather the IP address of TorGuard’s proxy server. When using a torrent proxy, you get all the benefits of torrenting and the proxy server, including security, speed, geographic location, and an anonymous IP.

Unlike a proxy, which only secures your torrent client or web browser, VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypted tunneling secures 100% of all your internet access, replacing your local ISP routing for all applications. With a fully anonymous VPN server, you will enjoy enhanced security regardless of geographic location. This protects not only your torrent downloads but also all other online activity or programs such as your web browser, email, and any other third party applications that connect to the web. You’ll also get faster connections and military grade encryption when using a VPN like TorGuard. And, your VPN can easily be connected or disconnected with just one mouse click. (by torguard)

Can You Use Them Both?

For some people, it’s not a matter of which one to use. It’s a matter of which one they should use for which situation. SOCKS proxies are most commonly used when people want to scrape the web or use social media tools. These proxies are also used for downloading torrents in bulk.

VPNs are most commonly used by people who want privacy and want to hide their locations for basic web surfing. These are popular with people who aren’t tech-savvy. That doesn’t mean you need to be tech savvy with a proxy, but you do have some tech options if you want to use them.

Some people choose to have SOCKS proxies and VPNs set up on their computers, and they turn one off and other on, depending on what they do. Still others use both simultaneously for the extra layer of security, but that is not necessary. Both SOCKS proxies and VPNs are secure on their own. There is no reason to add that extra layer of security.

Which One Is Right for You?

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to make a decision. For most people, a SOCKS proxy is the right choice. It offers the same security as a VPN, without the software. Plus, the extra IP addresses are a huge bonus since most internet marketing techniques require multiple IP addresses. Most people get everything they need out of SOCKS proxies.

This is why SOCKS5 proxies are more popularly used for web activities that don’t involve connecting to different websites where your data may be easily obtained. Outside of less encryption, proxy servers also often log activity. This means that anyone who can get access to those logs can find out both who you are and what you were doing while routing data through the proxy. Additionally, proxy servers that have been hacked are more likely to push malware and viruses onto your machine.

When to use SOCKS5 proxies, VPNs or both

As you might expect, there are clear benefits to using SOCKS5 proxies over VPNs, and vice versa.

Best uses for SOCKS5 proxy servers:

  • More bandwidth required
  • Torrenting or using peer-to-peer services (speed purposes only)*
  • Hiding your location
  • Bypassing geographic or content blocking
  • Improved security over regular proxies

Best uses for a VPN:

  • Secure web browsing
  • Torrenting or using peer-to-peer services (when more encryption and security is desired)
  • Getting past firewalls
  • Bypassing geographic or content blocking
  • Better privacy protections than SOCKS5

SOCKS5 proxy vs VPN for torrenting and P2P

If your entire goal is to torrent or utilize a P2P service with the fastest speed, your best option may be to use a SOCKS5 proxy. However, the faster speed will come at the cost of significantly less privacy, at the risk of drawing attention to yourself from your VPN. However, if your goal is to torrent with the maximum amount of encryption and privacy, go with a VPN. The speed will be noticeably slower, but with the right VPN service, the damage can be lessened a bit. Additionally, SOCKS5 proxies only connect select applications to the web, so it’s important to remember that all of your computer’s internet-related activities are not hidden while connected to a SOCKS5 proxy.

If your goal is to do a large amount of web surfing, getting past firewalls or simply protecting your entire online presence regardless the online activity, you’re better off using a VPN. The bandwidth will be worse, but not unbearably so if you utilize a higher-quality paid service like those from IPVanish and NordVPN. Both services, in fact, have both SOCKS5 proxies and VPN servers.

For a better idea on the additional benefits provided by VPN services, you can check our reviews of IPVanish, NordVPN and Private Internet Access.

  • Torrenting while connected to a proxy is not wholly anonymous. Your ISP may still be able to see that you’re uploading and downloading large amounts of data. The primary benefit to using a SOCKS5 proxy for P2P is the better upload and download speed, as well the fact that monitoring organizations cannot connect the the newly assigned IP address back to you. This results in more privacy than complete anonymity.

Lastly, Check this out this article will solve many similar doubts if you have one.

And do check this if you’re going to get involved in Carding.

Good Luck! :+1:

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In summary, proxies are great for hiding your identity during trivial tasks (like “sneaking” into another country to watch a sports match) but when it comes to more series tasks (like protecting yourself from snooping) you need a VPN.

Using a VPN client which sends DNS requests over the VPN. Not all VPN apps will successfully plug DNS leaks, as it was found in a study by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in 2016 when they carried an in-depth research called “An Analysis of the Privacy and Security Risks of Android VPN Permission-enabled Apps” [4] and found that 84% of the 283 VPN applications on Google Play Store that they tested did leak DNS requests.[5]

  • Having your DNS records leak completely undermines that goal, it could also allow a third party to fingerprint you, and figure out your actual IP address, which is its own problem in and of itself. Your IP address reveals a treasure trove of information, things like:

You can solve the problem in 2 ways:

  1. DNS Resolver on VPN You can install a DNS forwarder on your VPN server (if you have control of the server where it runs), set it to only forward queries coming from the VPN interface and configure your computer to use it.
  2. Forwarding gateway You must use two systems: one will act as the router, and route every single connection through the VPN, and the second will use the first as the default gateway.This is the way Whonix Linux works, so even if the remote site uses WebRTC to find your local address, it will only get the useless local network address (192.168.0.x).

The first method is easier to implement and easier to maintain. The second one is more secure, as it routes everything using the VPN connection.

  • Proxy won’t leak your DNS info, it intercepts all DNS requests and reroutes them to their own DNS servers. :shield:

  • Whereas VPN, it does! Not all, but some! :x:

So proxy is more secure for carders, then any VPN software.

  • Also, using completely anonymous web browsers such as Tor Browser which not only makes user anonymous, but also doesn’t require any dns to be set up on the operating system.
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