Proxy Server
What is Proxy Server?
Proxy ServerAn intermediary server that relays client requests to other servers, hiding the client and allowing centralized inspection, filtering, or caching of traffic.
A proxy server sits between clients and the services they consume, terminating each request and forwarding it on the client's behalf. By doing so it can hide internal IP addresses, enforce access policies, log traffic for compliance, cache responses to save bandwidth, and inspect or strip content for security. Proxies come in several flavours — forward (used by clients to reach the Internet), reverse (used by services to receive client traffic), and transparent (interposed without client configuration). Modern secure web gateways and CASBs extend the proxy model with TLS interception, URL categorisation, malware scanning, and data-loss prevention.
● Examples
- 01
A corporate web proxy that blocks malicious URLs and logs every outbound HTTP request.
- 02
A reverse proxy that terminates TLS and load-balances traffic to several backend application servers.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Proxy Server?
An intermediary server that relays client requests to other servers, hiding the client and allowing centralized inspection, filtering, or caching of traffic. It belongs to the Network Security category of cybersecurity.
What does Proxy Server mean?
An intermediary server that relays client requests to other servers, hiding the client and allowing centralized inspection, filtering, or caching of traffic.
How do you defend against Proxy Server?
Defences for Proxy Server typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Proxy Server?
Common alternative names include: Proxy, Application proxy.