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cut off from CP

Doc Wylie

Doc Wylie

Curmudgeon
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
848
:angry: My daytime lingering on CigarPass has come to an end. The friggin' IT guy at work has set up some sort of blocking program that keeps "alcohol and tobacco related" websites from being accessed on company computers. You would think we had nothing more important than actual work to occupy our time! Anybody have any ideas on beating this game?
 
A proxy server is one way to do it (anonymizer is a good and trustworthy site to do this with). The question I'd ask is why they are blocking alcohol and tobacco products.

I would caution you to be careful about it. Some companies may see this as "abuse" of corporate resources and have reason to leave a not-so-nice note in your employee file.
 
The problem with using proxies is that it's a tacit admission that you're violating corporate policy. It calls unneeded attention on you. The real problem is that you're tempting fate; if they decide to march over to your computer and check out the history and cache, they're going to find something to justify the search, and it's going to get very bad, very fast.

I did some IT security consulting back in the late 90's, and minor violations often trigger major investigations. Some of which are major (I found a guy who'd reset his boss' email database permissions to let him read it - while I'm impressed with the computer-savviness it took to do that without raising a ton of red flags, they still got fired), some of which are minor, but once the train's on the rails, someone's going to end up looking bad. And it's not the security guy. So don't tempt fate, and enjoy your CP in the evenings.

That said, porn ok, alcohol and tobacco bad????
 
Do you have a wireless laptop? Might be able to find an open wifi around you.
 
one of my it guys uses a portable web device like the nokia ones linky
 
SyrLinus said:
The question I'd ask is why they are blocking alcohol and tobacco products.
Click to expand...

Also blocked is anything "military".

I guess it may be time to trade in my old suitcase sized cellphone and pick up one of the ones that has internet access.
 
I have a Palm Centro on Sprint's SERO (unlimited data, unlimited messaging, very cheap minutes - if you know a Sprint employee's email address, you can get it, too) plan, and use it for Dial-Up Networking (DUN) internet access on Sprint's 3g network rather than paying for WiFi. Half the time it's faster than the WiFi wherever I am, too.

Just remember the fundamental equation: their computer, their network, their rules; your computer, your network, your rules. Looks like they might be worried about liability in some odd way, or are reacting to out-of-the-ordinary traffic. I can't see someone downloading the anarchist's cookbook onto their work computer, but stranger things have happened.
 
VNC back to your home computer. :whistling:
 
I have a relevant funny one about this..

When the county that I work for turned on Websense, more than 1 newly elected (Dem) judge called down to Lan/Wan and DEMANDED access to porn so they could "research" their cases. My friend's response was, "1. You're supposed to be an impartial party in the case. 2. Investigation is what the D.A.'s investigators are for. 3. If you really think you need it, put it in writing and we'll take it to commissioners court and it will be public record."

These judges never complained about it again.

Oh, BTW, in the first 30 days, 12 out of 7,000 were shown to the door because of their attempts to access stuff. Not too bad percentage wise, but a couple of those had been around a long time.

A personal device would be the way to go.
 
AVB said:
VNC back to your home computer. :whistling:
Click to expand...

That's ok IF a remote viewing program isn't installed on your work machine. We installed it in a couple of the jails so the Captains could see what his minions were doing on their pc's. It was a variety that's stealth when you're being watched.
 
I don't know if this is ok, but offer the IT guy a bribe to un-block your work computer :whistling:
 
I too, have the same recent blocking at work. It sucks. And I've been busier at home with the baby, so my CP time has dwindled dramatically. I feel your pain...and after 6 months....the pain still remains! :0 :(
 
Ah, the joy of working off-site. We have Websense installed at the main office, but I'm connected to the server via VPN. No restrictions to the internet. Even Gary's LINKY'S aren't blocked (thankfully).

*Edited for grammer. Never type and talk to people at the same time, or you might might end up double typing a word and not notice until after after you hit the 'post response' button. :blush:
 
Marco-Polo said:
The problem with using proxies is that it's a tacit admission that you're violating corporate policy. It calls unneeded attention on you. The real problem is that you're tempting fate; if they decide to march over to your computer and check out the history and cache, they're going to find something to justify the search, and it's going to get very bad, very fast.

I did some IT security consulting back in the late 90's, and minor violations often trigger major investigations. Some of which are major (I found a guy who'd reset his boss' email database permissions to let him read it - while I'm impressed with the computer-savviness it took to do that without raising a ton of red flags, they still got fired), some of which are minor, but once the train's on the rails, someone's going to end up looking bad. And it's not the security guy. So don't tempt fate, and enjoy your CP in the evenings.

That said, porn ok, alcohol and tobacco bad????
Click to expand...


That is what I find funny about PayPal. Cigars are bad, but chrome studded, gas powered dildoes are perfectly acceptable. I know this because Gary told me he used PP to buy his.
 
NullSmurf said:
That is what I find funny about PayPal. Cigars are bad, but chrome studded, gas powered dildoes are perfectly acceptable. I know this because Gary told me he used PP to buy his.
Click to expand...

Actually, it was steam powered and wasn't chrome studded: LINKY
 
I don't know what amazes me more, that somebody actually made one of those or the fact that you were able to find it.
 
If you decide that you want to violate company policy and you want to cover your tracks to the best extent possible, get a USB thumb drive and install PortableApps on it. use the Firefox installed in PortableApps, and no footprint of its usage is left on your workstation. The history, cookies, etc are not retained between sessions, so you're covered. You can even run it from a CD if you so choose.

This will NOT help you if there is remote-viewing software installed on your laptop. If they look at your screen and you have the portable Firefox running, they will see what you are doing and you may be punished for this. Also, PortableApps will not, in and of itself, provide a way around the filter.
 
By the way..porn is also blocked (not that I tried to access it :whistling: )
 
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