A good start for masking your ip address

http://www.torproject.org/

If you are interested in this, read up on it at the site. There are special usage factors you need to keep in mind. Any questions, feel free to ask.

http://www.torproject.org/download.html.en#Warning

Best used with Firefox, NoScript plugin, RefControl plugin and AdBlock Plus plugin.

It can work with other apps too. Not only html browsers.

Nice post. Interesting.

Seems almost like a proxy server with people who scramble the servers around for you.

except that with Tor, data is encrypted through each node (except the final one). Proxy servers generally send information in the clear, which doesn't provide as much anonymity.

Right. This is all encrypted as it leaves your machine. Packets can not be sniffed on network(s). Well, they can but they are encrypted and no sense could be made of them.

Packets are clear non-encrypted once they leave the final (3rd) node as they request from the websites you visit.
The final node does not know who the 1st is or who you are while using.

torrentg said:

The final node does not know who the 1st is or who you are while using.

Everyone should keep in mind, Tor is not about security or privacy. It is about anonymity.

However, it is entirely possible for the person owning the exit node to have malicious intent. He or she could sniff the traffic to reveal personal information.