My work is blocking access to certain sites, any way around this?

[essential]

Basically, at my work we used to have access to almost everything on the web, but now our boss has kind of gone crazy and blocked everything including facebook, myspace, espn, hotmail, etc. It's kind of stupid because if there are no customers in the store, there is literally nothing we can do except be in the computer, there is no busy work, now we just stand there.

Is there any way to get around this? Something that can boot from a thumb drive and get around the filters would be perfect because the user accounts are limited and we can't install programs. Unfortunately I don't know the specific way in which he is blocking the sites (software based, hardware/router filter, etc). I thought about proxies, but if he checks the web stats couldn't he just block those too then cause the site names would show up, assuming they'd even work in the first place?

Am I pretty much out of luck, or is there something that could help me use the web and avoid the filters?

Thanks.

We are not going to help you break your employer's policy that is there for a reason. Ask your employer to relax the company Internet Policy. Oakenfold, PC Gaming and Security Moderator

 

[bsobel]

Questions like these are not alllowed.

 

[Fardringle]

Yes, there is a simple way around it. Surf non-work-related sites while you're not at work.

If the boss decided that these sites are not appropriate at work, then you either need to live with that policy, nicely give your boss legitimate reasons why you would need to check your facebook profile at work (not likely), or work somewhere else since violating the boss's policy is likely to get you fired.

As bsobel said, questions like this are against the rules, and asking network/security professionals how to circumvent the security on a business network isn't going to get many positive responses when it is often our job to maintain the security on those same networks.

 

[essential]

Bah, okay, not trying to break rules, if you knew our boss you'd understand, he isn't trying to be secure, he's just being an ass. For years we had access to everything, now just this week he blocked everything. At our job if no customers are coming in, there is nothing to do, literally. Now we just stand there. They won't allow us to bring our own laptops in, all we can do is play solitare or go to dictionary.com, it seems like the only non-blocked site. We have tried talking to him, but like I said, I really think he has a screw loose.

Thanks anyway, didn't mean to violate rules.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Setup a HTTPS proxy on a remote server and surf through that. Not that I'd advise doing that as they'll see you constantly going to that site (will look like a secured http request I think) so they'll look further into it then find out it's a proxy then you'll be canned. Another option is a SSH tunnel then use VNC to surf from home. Won't look like HTTP traffic at all.

 

[essential]

Thanks for the reply. Like I said I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I tried using a proxy website from work yesterday and it was blocked, so my boss probably has a rule such as "block all sites except the ones I list" and he only has the company website and dictionary.com listed.

I think what I am going to try is running the TeamViewer portable from my USB stick and just use my home computer, assuming the TeamViewer portable will run from my USB stick on my work computer, like I said it's a limited user account.

Your reply gave me the idea RedSquirrel, thanks.