Unauthorized Usuage...
February 2009
Unauthorized Web use on the rise, sneaking by IT. Schools long have struggled with savvy students who run anonymous Web proxy tools to bypass Web filters and secretly access banned Web sites and content. But the use of these potentially dangerous tools within the enterprise appears to be more widespread than was once thought. A new study released on January 4 indicates that businesses may be clueless about the breadth of the problem: While 15 percent of IT managers report that Web filter bypass tools are in use in their organizations, it turns out that these tools are actually in use in three out of four organizations, according to FaceTime Communications, which polled both IT managers and its own customers on the topic. Anonymous Web proxies, also known as proxy servers, anonymizers, and shadow-surfing tools, basically pass user Web traffic via other servers to get around an organization’s Web filters. These tools come in various forms, but the most popular are Web proxy sites, such as Proxyatwork.com, which let users reach banned sites from work, whether it is gambling, social networks, or adult content. They also come in desktop applications, such as Circumventor, that let users browse silently and anonymously over nontraditional browsing ports, hiding their IP addresses and other identifiable information. Other bypass tools include online communities, such as TOR and Hopster, where users make their PCs available for use as proxies in support of freedom of communication over the Net, notes the vice president of marketing and product management for FaceTime.
Unauthorized Web use on the rise, sneaking by IT. Schools long have struggled with savvy students who run anonymous Web proxy tools to bypass Web filters and secretly access banned Web sites and content. But the use of these potentially dangerous tools within the enterprise appears to be more widespread than was once thought. A new study released on January 4 indicates that businesses may be clueless about the breadth of the problem: While 15 percent of IT managers report that Web filter bypass tools are in use in their organizations, it turns out that these tools are actually in use in three out of four organizations, according to FaceTime Communications, which polled both IT managers and its own customers on the topic. Anonymous Web proxies, also known as proxy servers, anonymizers, and shadow-surfing tools, basically pass user Web traffic via other servers to get around an organization’s Web filters. These tools come in various forms, but the most popular are Web proxy sites, such as Proxyatwork.com, which let users reach banned sites from work, whether it is gambling, social networks, or adult content. They also come in desktop applications, such as Circumventor, that let users browse silently and anonymously over nontraditional browsing ports, hiding their IP addresses and other identifiable information. Other bypass tools include online communities, such as TOR and Hopster, where users make their PCs available for use as proxies in support of freedom of communication over the Net, notes the vice president of marketing and product management for FaceTime.
posted by arkietechs at 7:36 AM
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