Encrypt your web browsing session (with an SSH SOCKS proxy)

You're at an open wireless hotspot, but you don't want to send your web browsing data over it in plain text. Or you want to visit a non-work-approved web page from the office computer without the IT team finding out.

Using a simple SSH command, you can encrypt all your web browsing traffic and redirect it through a trusted computer when you're on someone else's network. Today we'll set up a local proxy server that encrypts your online activity from your Mac, PC or Linux desktop. Here's how.