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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
June 27, 2010
Q.
I tried to go to a website, and got a
message something about a proxy server
refusing the connection. What is a proxy
server and what does this message mean?
A.
If you don't normally use a proxy
sever and apparently you don't or you would
know what one is, it appears that your
computer is infected with malware; Probably
one of the very many rouge anti-virus
programs.
Basically, a proxy server is a server
(computer) that sits between a client
application, which in your case is your Web
browser, and the real server you are trying
to access. When you enter a URL of a website
that you want to go to, the request is
automatically diverted to the proxy server
which can do several things with it like
pass it on, refuse to accept it, or just
about anything else it can be programmed to
do.
There are
many benefits of using a proxy server.
First, the computer can access a website
without making a direct connection. This
way, the client's real internet address will
not be known to the remote server. It offers
pretty good security.
Large
organizations sometimes use proxy servers to
control their employees access to the
Internet. A large bank may use a proxy
server that only allows connections to other
websites relevant to banking. The proxy
server might however block access to
Websites offering free email or serving
pornographic material. It might also block
access to file sharing applications.
Limiting access to specific content on the
internet is also called internet filtering.
Some
malware will install a proxy server to
prevent the user from accessing any site but
one that the malware writer wants you to
visit. In the case of a rouge anti-virus
program, this would be done to get you to
buy a program to remove all the fictitious
problems the rough anti-virus reports
finding. For more on Rouge anti-virus
programs refer to this
previous article
about them.
Since you
received the message about the proxy server
refusing the connection, I suspect that you
are using the Firefox browser. Most of the
other browsers including Internet Explorer
just say they cannot open the connection
without giving a specific reason.
First,
you will have to use a good malware removing
program to get rid of the rouge anti-virus
program. There are two free anti-malware
programs that I highly recommend. One is
called
Malwarebytes
and the other is called
SUPERAntiSpyware.
Both of these programs have free
versions and paid versions. Be sure to
download the free versions which will be
more than adequate to remove almost all
malware. You will have to download these
programs from a different computer and then
install them on the infected computer.
Once the
actual malware program has been removed, you
may still have to make the manual change to
stop using the bogus proxy server. The
procedure is different for Firefox than most
other computers. I'll cover Firefox first.
Open the
Firefox browser. In the top menu click
Tools, then Options, then the Advanced icon,
and then the Settings button. If you don't
normally use a proxy server, click the top
item which is "No Proxy", and click OK.
In the
unlikely case that you are using a proxy
server, contact your IT person to get the
correct settings.
To turn
off the proxy server in Internet Explorer,
Chrome and most other browsers, open the
control panel, and click on Internet
Options. There will be one additional step
before the Internet Options if you are still
using the category view. Click the
Connections tab, and then the LAN Settings
button.
If you do
not normally use a proxy server, be sure the
box in front of "Automatically detect
settings" is checked and the box in front of
"Use a proxy server for your LAN....." is
not checked.
Again, in
the unlikely event you do use a proxy
server, get the proper settings from your IT
person. However, if you are on a LAN that
does normally use a proxy server, I suspect
that you will not be able to make any
changes here without acquiring Administrator
privileges. |
