Getting around a firewall (to a blocked site)

[HFishbine]

My girlfriend's employer has blocked Hotmail (of all places). I seem to remember a web page that would allow you to be directed to sites that a firewall is blocking. Am I imagining such a thing? Is there a way to get to blocked sites? (Installation of software on the workstation is not an option).

[denverguy]

1. be careful

sounds like a good way for your girlfriend to lose her job

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Welcome to DU, denverguy!

[denverguy]

3. thanks!

[YellowRubberDuckie]

7. Welcome to DU...

Glad to have you along! :hi:
Duckie

[HFishbine]

5. Nope, not at all

There is no policy prohibiting visits to Hotmail, just an abitrary decision by some overzealous IT person.

[Xithras]

9. There doesn't need to be

Our firewalls here at work block traffic to a number of websites, even though there is no official policy against using them (the lawyers said "block these" so we did).

Anyone found bypassing the blocks would be penalized under the "circumventing or bypassing network or software security devices, or accessing unauthorized network resources" clause in our employee AUP. Depending on what they access and how many times they do it, penalties range from terminating Internet access at their workstation to the termination of their employment.

Oh, and Hotmail is probably blocked because it's been used as a vector for a few computer worms recently. The last time I checked, Microsoft still didn't virus scan attachments worth a cr*p, and Hotmail is a great resource for getting virii into a lot of mailboxes in a short period of time. It doesn't help that, for the longest time, Hotmail had (still has?) the ability to autolaunch attachments on the client computer with a simple doubleclick. We don't block it here, but I understand that many people do.

If your GF needs Hotmail access without port 80, tell her to check and see if she has Outlook Express on her PC (most Windows boxes do). Outlook Express has the ability to retrieve email from Hotmail without using the web, which should get her around the block without technically "bypassing" the block. If her IT department is so paranoid about security I'd assume that she's already on a patching schedule and has a local AV solution, so she SHOULD be protected from worms. Still, keep in mind that she will probably be held liable if her email allows a virus onto her computer, which jumps to the network. At a minimum that could get her fired. In some states and with come companies, that could get her sued for the cleanup costs.

[HFishbine]

11. "if she has Outlook Express"

Great advice. Thanks.

[necso]

4. You could use a free proxy.

A search on google would bring up a few. --- But I never trust free proxies.

Moreover, I agree with the previous poster, it is best not to do this kind of stuff at work!

[HFishbine]

6. It's Hotmail, for crying out loud

Some dumbass blocked it while other e-mail sites remain accessible. Bahahhahahahh....

[IronLionZion]

8. There's a reason we block these sites

and that reason is viruses. Do you know how many email sites are out there? We can't block them all so we get the popular ones like hotmail and yahoo. The IT community takes the threat of viruses very seriously. geez

[HFishbine]

10. Sounds like

a power trip to me.

[IronLionZion]

13. yup

It's makes us feel powerful to keep you from your email.

Some companies keep a few machines outside the firewall that they may let you use for email. Or try forwarding it to your work address.

[HFishbine]

14. I didn't mean you specifically

I meant in our case.

[Kamikaze]

12. Here's how I plan to bypass firewalls.

Whether it is a firewall put in place by your employer or your school, or if that wireless network at the airport, in most cases all you need is a proxy.

I plan to set up my own proxy once I get my own place. Since I want to host my own servers I'll be obtaining a static IP. From there, I set up a Virtual Private Network at home. This way, I can get anything I need from my home machines from anywhere in the world. I can also use the VPN to browse the Internet by proxy if I wanted to. All the network admin sees (if he's even watching) are packets moving through a port on my home network's IP address, not packets moving from DU or whichever website I happen to be visiting. So long as the admin doesn't start sniffing those packets, they're none the wiser.

That's too much for nearly anyone to pull off though, so try to find a free web proxy that isn't being closely monitored by anyone.