alpha Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 I came across this issue a few times recently. The IT department at work blocks the hotmail and yahoo mail sites, so we can not check our personal e-mails. Their reasoning is that since they have no way of monitoring it, the network can get viruses from outside sources. Although it's bogus, but we have to abide by their rules. I was wondering if the computer gurus in this forum know of anyway that the block can be bypassed. Every time I try to access the hotmail website, it says blocked by websense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 There is always a way The cleanest way around such things is using a proxy server. This may or may not work but try it out (they may be blocking proxie access too): All you need to know: http://www.samair.ru/proxy/faq.htm A list of proxy servers in the US: http://www.samair.ru/proxy/19.htm Basically with a proxy server, all your web requests go through the proxy and thus, will probably not be blocked. If this doesn't work, or if you don't have permissions to change proxy settings on your PC, then we can try other methods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garo Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 I don't think your IT department will be happy finding proxy server requests originating from your computer in websense's logs and user activity reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gevo27 Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I don't think your IT department will be happy finding proxy server requests originating from your computer in websense's logs and user activity reports. all he has to do is say "ohh/. im sorry i didnt know that" and problem solved lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha Posted March 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Sip, they have blocked the websites you've listed above too. Isn't there any other way. At our firm we are always playing cat and mouse with the IT guys. They keep blocking and we keep finding ways how to bypass. This time it's really serious and none of us is able to do anything about it. Why do they have to be such nags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 There is always a way The cleanest way around such things is using a proxy server. This may or may not work but try it out (they may be blocking proxie access too): All you need to know: http://www.samair.ru/proxy/faq.htm A list of proxy servers in the US: http://www.samair.ru/proxy/19.htm Basically with a proxy server, all your web requests go through the proxy and thus, will probably not be blocked. If this doesn't work, or if you don't have permissions to change proxy settings on your PC, then we can try other methods. I would be surprised to see that a departement that block email access will not block configurations such as Internet option. I may be mistaken, don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Sip, they have blocked the websites you've listed above too. Isn't there any other way. At our firm we are always playing cat and mouse with the IT guys. They keep blocking and we keep finding ways how to bypass. This time it's really serious and none of us is able to do anything about it. Why do they have to be such nags. Can you access the Internet options? Just try to see if you do not have a limited account which prevent you to play with the configurations. If you can, I may go to that site and try few ones and give you one that might work. But if they catch you out, I don't think they will like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha Posted March 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I can access Internet Options, and I don't think I have a limited account. What configurations need to be changed. Also, how can they know about my internet activity. There are more than 500 analysts working here, I don't think IT guys will have time to look into weblog of each analyst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 See if you can get to either of these: http://www.multiproxy.org or http://www.surfola.com (note: You can download their stuff from home and take it to work yourself if access is blocked to those sites). Another option would be http://www.openproxy.com If all of these are blocked, then you can always set up your own somewhere ... but this would require some technical knowledge and a machine with an always on connection (broadband) and preferrably a static IP address (which doesn't change). One thing you can do (example with a PC at home) is if that machine is running Windows XP or 2000, you can enable remote desktop and then connect to it from your work PC. This way, you can surf the web from your home PC without actually being at home! Hopefully your IT department hasn't blocked off the ports required for this kind of a connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha Posted March 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 The http://www.multiproxy.org or http://www.surfola.com were blocked but I was able to access the http://www.openproxy.com . So what should I do next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Oh I just tried openproxy and it seems like it's not around anymore. I hadn't checked it recently. Well the other two you can probably access from home. I haven't tried them but they have software that can automatically configure a working proxy for you I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 IT is the devil I tells ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azat Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Sip, If I am the net admin as soon as I see lots of traffic going to one site or another I will block it. In the long run I think it is not worth doing this Alpha as I think you may get yourself in trouble over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 By the way, if hotmail and yahoo mail are the main problem, you can forward them to some other email account that is accessible from work. I know you can forward yahoo but I don't know what will happen with all the junk mail and what other good webmail service there is that might be accessible from work. Also, see if you can see your yahoo mail through wap: http://wap.oa.yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Forgot to say, if your company is blocking access to yahoo wap as well, you can use it pretty comfortably using a text-based browser (lynx) and shell access to some remote machine. I don't know if you have ever used anything like this but if you have some other machine you can log into or some service provider that will give you shell access, then this is another option. I know my explanations are not very detailed but I am just throwing out ideas here ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha Posted March 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I think our IT has blocked everything. Thanks for the help to all of you people. I guess I am going to stay out of trouble and keep using Kinko's next door, although it's 20cents a minute and 50cents a page to print (outrageous). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Be careful, they might block hyeforum too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturalbornstud87 Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 hey that wap thingy worked and got me past websense.Do u know how to get past the blocking of hotmail e-mails??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 This brings up an intresting dilemma (especially for those of us that work in IT). If I were a sysadmin, every bone in my body would be telling me to block access to sites like yahoo, hotmail and of course, porn sites, and maybe even forums (we all know how much time you can lose at a good forum ) BUT, where do you draw the line? Acting like the gustapo certainly has it's negative effects in terms of team morale and employee satisfaction. One would HOPE, that most adults would be responsible/ethical and avoid extensive non-work activities on-line while they're busy at work. Besides if the work gets done, and done well - within budget guidelines, and allocated time frames, then why feel obligated to limit access? Any views? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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