Is anybody aware of a way to proxy via an HTTPS connection, even if the destination website is plain HTTP? I've been doing some looking for Squid configurations, but everything that mentions HTTPS proxying is referring to proxying HTTPS websites. I do not want to use an SSL tunnel or a VPN.

Any clues?

Is there a reason why an SSH tunnel doesn't fit your needs? If not, you'll need to use an SSL proxy. I believe it's the only secure method of proxying supported by browsers.

For one, I want to cut out as many pre-reqs as possible. I'd like to be able to simply change the proxy settings in the browser (or other program) and be done with it. I have also had problems with Windows 7 systems locking up when trying to configure an SSH tunnel. I plan on using this configuration on a PortableApps USB drive so that I can go anywhere and get near private browsing. I say near because I need need to proxy SSL sites, only plaintext sites. I can get the proxy working, but I don't want the plaintext information traversing the network. I prefer it to traverse the network encrypted and then traverse from my Linode in plaintext.

There are more serious problems afoot, then, since your Win7 system would have to be pretty broken to lock up when establishing SSH connections.



putty (the standard SSH client that most people use) is pretty portable; it doesn't have any installer. I'm not sure if profiles are stored in the registry, but it also supports all the stuff needed for port forwarding as commandline parameters, meaning a shortcut or batch script on a USB script should work too.

That's what I used to use. I'd use putty to SSH to my linode, and use a squid proxy over the SSH tunnel. Nowadays, I just use OpenVPN as it performs far better than an HTTP proxy and secures *all* my traffic instead of just non-secure websites.

They are, but there's an unofficial version that uses an INI file, and the PortableApps.com version has a little wrapper that exports/imports registry tree.