Wikipedia:Open proxies noticeboard/Guide to checking open proxies: Difference between revisions

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How to confirm open proxies: delete unnecessary word
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==Blocking==
Block the IP if you think that's appropriate. Make a note about how to confirm it in the block log or on its talk page. HTTP proxies are typically open for shorter periods of time. The usual causes are a misconfigured caching proxy, or a trojan/virus, and they get cleaned up eventually. HTTP proxies are also more likely to be dynamic IP addresses, typically home users. Web servers often stay static for years, and while the open proxies hosted on it may eventually dissappeardisappear, the collateral is not going to be huge if a dedicated web server stays blocked from editing. However, people ''can and do'' edit legitimately from web servers which are not open proxies. Depending on the nature of the IP address, block lengths are typically a few months for HTTP proxies and a few years for web proxies.
 
==Port scans==
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==Exit servers==
It is possible in some cases for HTTP proxies to edit from a different IP address than the one you connect to. This means that scans of the IP which makes the edits do not detect any open ports, while scans of the IP you connect to do not show what address it will use to edit (iei.e. which IP to block). A common scenario is where an ISP routes all their web traffic through a central [[Caching proxy|caching server]], and one of the IPs using it is running an open proxy. They are generally not easy to confirm. Caution should be exercised with blocking in these cases, as these blocks may affect many innocent users, and the proxies don't tend to last long. See also: [[Wikipedia:WikiProject on XFFs]].
 
==Duck test==