Proxomitron has the ability to filter potentially nasty stuff out of webpages as you download them and can also filter what gets sent back. While it and similar web-filtering proxies is normally used with HTTP, or normal world-wide-web traffic, Proxomitron can also handle encrypted, or Secure Socket Layer, traffic. SSL is used to login to webmail acconts and for online transactions, and when it is in use, you will see a link that begins with https:// - note the 's'. On some browsers, you may also see a little lock icon in the bottom of the screen. While it is recommended by all security experts that you use SSL whenever possible, there is a potential security/privacy risk by using it: because the traffic is encrypted, and because nearly all web designers believe that no one can break it, it's very possible for websites which are malicious (or which generally disrespectful of your privacy) to embed nosey code within secured pages because they think there is little or no chance of it being discovered.
By setting up Proxomitron to handle SSL, any incoming webpages are decrypted by Proxomitron. filtered, and then re-encrypted, and sent to your browser. The same process occurs with any information you send back to the website you are visiting.
There are three downsides. First, Proxomitron may interfere with the correct display or function of https sites, and may therefore interfere with your ability to use SSL sites. Frankly, I have not had or heard of any problem at all, but, as always, there is always a chance. The other main problem is that if you enter a encrypted site or portion of a site, while it's being filtered by Proxomitron, you will get a pop-up warning asking whether you want to accept Proxomitron's encryption certificate. (The reason why this happens is that, because you are visiting an encrypted webpage, your browser expects to see encrypted data. So, Proxomitron must re-encrypt any incoming pages, using it's own "certificate", for the short hop over to your browser. Since Proxomitron does not use a certificate from a major vendor like Verisign -- they cost too much, and Proxomitron is a free application -- the author wrote his own certificate rather than shell out a few thousand dollars for a "proper" certificate from a well-known agency.)
The third downside is that, due to export restrictions, this feature is only available to citizens of the United States, it's territories, and other allied nations.
Anyway, if you think you'd like to give it a go, installing it is rather simple: you first need to download a package containing two special files, ssleay32.dll and libeay32.dll. You can get them here. You then need to unzip them using WinZip or WinRAR and place them in the same folder as Proxomitron.
Third, start Proxomitron if it's not already running and click the green triangle icon in the tray. Proxomitron's main menu screen will pop up. Click the Config button and then select the tab along the top called HTTP. You'll see a box called Use SSLeay/OpenSSL to filter secure pages. Click the box to check it. Click Okay. Then click the File item along the top and select Save Default Settings. You can now click the 'X' at top right to hide Proxomitron's main manu if you like.
Finally, you simply need to set your browser up to talk to Proxomitron for SSL. You set this up the exact same way as you set up Proxomitron previously to filter normal web traffic, except that you place localhost and 8080 in the fields for your browser labeled 'SSL' or 'Secure'. See below for a rundown.
For Mozilla or Netscape users:
1. Click the Edit item on the top menu bar.
2. Scroll down and select Preferences.
3. Click the little plus (+) sign next to Advanced to reveal more options
4. Select Proxies.
5. Click the button that says Manual Proxy Configuration. If you are using Netscape 4.79 or earlier, click the neighboring View button as well.
6. In the box called SSL Proxy (or Security in older versions of Netscape) enter the word localhost in the left-most box and 8080 in the right-most box, which says Port:
7. You're done. Click Ok. Keep clicking Ok tabs to get out of all these menus.
For Internet Explorer users:
1. From the Tools menu at the top, select Internet Options.
2. From the tab at the top called Connections, go to the bottom and select LAN Settings.
3. Check the box called Use A Proxy Server. (In IE 5 and above, you may have the choice of setting this for Dial-Up connection [if you dial-in with a modem] or using LAN settings [for high-speed Internet]. Do this for both.)
4. Click the Advanced button.
5. Where it says Secure, put the word localhost in the left-most box, and in the right-most box (called Ports) put 8080
6. Click Apply then Ok when done.
For Opera users:
1. Click File on the menu bar at the top of the screen.
2. Scroll down and click Preferences.
3. Select the item called Network in the list.
4. Select Proxy Servers.
5. Check the box next to SSL In the left-most box, enter the word localhost and in the right-most box (called Port:) enter in 8080
6. Click Ok, then click Apply, then click Ok.
Click here to go back to Step 3.
In case you get lost, this page is located at http://www.oocities.org/yosponge/proxossl.html
