[Spunger]

Hey guys,

I have a question. I got a phone call from one of my parents co-workers. He was telling me that certian websites no longer come up, OR they come up extremely slow. It's funny because he said if you try to go to a porn site it tells you some legal mumbojumbo etc...on a pop up that the company knows what you're doing. He said if he goes to Craigslist.org or wants to play online poker then it allows it. For some odd-reason now a local radio station's site is blocked (well it comes up so slow it mise well be blocked). He asked me how to get around it but I was stumped.

I know how to fix/repair computers and some software problems as I've done this for 4 years as a profession. I did a quick search but didn't find anything. I'm pretty sure they are on a good size network, and it's a goverment defense contractor (raytheon) so they probably have their stuff together in network terms. I never did work on a corporate networking enviorment so I'm lost.

Do you guys have any idea how I could direct him to be able to browse a site that might be blacklisted from them being able to view? I know from reading on here that there's ways around it, mainly for school kids and such, but there has to be a site that you can go to to view another site.

Any help would be great,
Thanks guys,
Chris

 

[Ciaran]

I get these calls at work... "Hmmm, work seems to have blocked non work related websites. How do I alter the computer that belongs to work so I can do non work related things at work?"

It would depend on how they blocked stuff. Here where I work we have an in-house written app that blocks all outside sites. Unless you know what it's named and where it lives you won't be able to undo it.

Some advice: The IT department knows exactly where people are going on the internet. They might have to dig through a log file or two but they can find out. If work has sites blocked I would say that it's a fairly good chance that they are also watching for people going to those sites. Also if your parents friend gets caught altering the PC to do forbidden stuff he'll probably catch some hell for it. I would advise against it. I tell my clients to wait till you get home to check your e-mail and porn.

Edit: Internet radio may be blocked due to bandwidth issues, or he may need to change the port setting. (Port 80 will generally get you outside)

 

[Spunger]

That's what I told the guy, but it was funny, he said someone this morning called the radio station asking how to get around their blocks and someone called back (a tech guy) and told them how to. I told him if IT watches where he goes then maybe he should calm down and take a break for a while. But when he said people are playing online poker and what not I thought that was odd.

I found some proxy site that seems to work for going around sites but I told him is it worth your email or a upcomming concert time to loose your job? He was like nah, not really so I knew he got it.

Thanks though! I was a computer technican but never did any of this stuff. Not too many old people have issues browsing one site. It's more of the "I can't get my email" and "I got a virus" type stuff, never this corporate crap.

 

[Ciaran]

That's what I told the guy, but it was funny, he said someone this morning called the radio station asking how to get around their blocks and someone called back (a tech guy) and told them how to. I told him if IT watches where he goes then maybe he should calm down and take a break for a while. But when he said people are playing online poker and what not I thought that was odd.

I found some proxy site that seems to work for going around sites but I told him is it worth your email or a upcomming concert time to loose your job? He was like nah, not really so I knew he got it.

Thanks though! I was a computer technican but never did any of this stuff. Not too many old people have issues browsing one site. It's more of the "I can't get my email" and "I got a virus" type stuff, never this corporate crap.

Corporate stuff sucks. I would love to let people have access to outside sites but I get in trouble for enabling it. Eventually they'll get to me and block Ridemonkey. I guess I'll have to quit when that happens.

 

[Pau11y]

I was really close to firing up a proxy server to choke down some of the BS traffic when I was running the hotel. I can understand why the suits would want to choke access as it cuts productivity. I mean I had ppl doing internet radio, running torrents, sending jokes all over the place (but limiting e-mail attachement sizes was not an option), and just generally being idiots. I'm learning how to code right now. I think if I ever get into another sys-admin position again, I'm going to write a littel Java app that'll explicitly say it's a virus (but actually isn't, however it will report back to me if it's been opened or not) and FLAME the hell out of whoever opens it...hehehe