Can Other People Connect to the Proxy I Set Up? How to Control Access Safely

Wow, thanks so much for all the replies, everyone! I didn’t expect so many helpful tips. I tried setting up IP whitelisting using Squid, and it worked! Feels way safer now.

I do have a follow-up question though—how do I know if my proxy is using HTTPS properly? Like, is there a way to test if my traffic is encrypted?

Also, shoutout to the person who mentioned OpenVPN. I’ll definitely look into that for extra security.

Thanks again, y’all are the best! ✌️