Centralized Web Proxy Services: Security and Privacy Considerations

The widespread use of centrally controlled, externally run Web proxy services has several potential security issues related to privacy and deception, intranet information disclosure, and the creation of a single point of failure for widespread attacks. The author evaluates the security implications of such a Web proxy service from the viewpoints of users, organizations, and content providers. The discussion is illustrated with an analysis of Google's Web Accelerator, a free Web proxy service.