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Digital kids
Kids outsmart Web filters
By Stefanie Olsen
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: April 19, 2006 4:00 AM PST
Last November, Ryan, a high-school sophomore, figured out a way to outsmart the Web filters on a school PC in order to visit the off-limits MySpace.com while doing "homework" in the computer lab.
A teacher eventually spotted the social network on the screen in front of "Ryan," a fictitious name for a real student attending school in Phoenix, Ore., a small town with a population of about 5,000. The teacher flagged the activity for the school's technology expert, who then followed Ryan's tracks online through the school network.
Ryan had apparently set up a so-called Web proxy from his home computer so that when he was at school, he could direct requests for banned sites like MySpace through a Web address at home, thereby tricking the school's filter. (Web, or CGI, proxies can be Web sites or applications that allow users to access other sites through them.)
"I eventually tracked down the (Internet Protocol) address, so that it doesn't work for him anymore," said Don Wolff, tech coordinator in the Phoenix-Talent School District, adding that Ryan didn't face disciplinary action. "It's against our acceptable-use policy, but he's not going to quit trying, (and this way) we can keep learning."
"This is a hot new trend among kids for getting around Web filters," Wolff said.
Web proxies are almost as old as the Internet itself as a means to route Web traffic through an anonymous domain name or circumvent content-filters, and they've long been the territory of corporate networks and the tech savvy seeking privacy. Nowadays, an increasing number of teenagers are setting up proxies on home PCs to sidestep school filtering traps, in addition to using free proxies set up on the Web, according to technologists at schools and at content-filtering technology providers.
Proxies are just one of many tricks that kids use to break locks put on forbidden material--a pursuit of almost any young generation. As more schools place tight controls on PCs to stop kids from file-sharing, instant messaging, social networking or looking at undesirable material online, the kids are getting more clever, tech experts say.
Google, by far the most popular search site, has a "safe search" feature, for example, that filters out adult material. But kids can circumvent those filters by viewing "cached" links or thumbnail images to look at inappropriate material, experts say. Teens also trick filters by typing in misspelled words or modern slang to retrieve links to racy material. Translation sites Babelfish or Google Translate can deliver sites like Playboy.com translated from another language.
"It's going to be the constant battle. No matter what you put up, kids are going to work around it," said Lynn Beebe, a school counselor in Scotts Valley, Calif. Her school, for example, uses filters to block all sites with the word or subject "blog," in addition to other sites.
But there's no foolproof solution. Beebe said that a small population of boys at the school use their free time to play games online. Sometimes they've shared with her that when they mistakenly type in a URL, an undesirable site appears, she said.
A more popular avenue for teens on school PCs is to visit any one of thousands of Web proxy sites such as Proxify, Guardster.com and Proxy.org to call up banned sites without notice, according to filtering companies.
Kevin Sanders, senior software engineer at Lightspeed Systems, maker of a content-filtering system called Total Traffic Control, said he targets such proxy sites in a master database of thousands of barred sites for school clients.
Proxies can get trickier.
"A far more difficult problem to deal with is when they download a piece of software on their home computer, using a CGI script to (access content). Our product doesn't recognize it as a known domain, because it's just going through their home computer," said Sanders.
Web sites like Freeproxy point visitors to many free downloadable applications like "Hidemyass.com" that let kids work around content filters in a more surreptitious way. Teen blogs can also be found that point kids to proxies for school filters.
How to deal with it? "We block all requests going to unknown sites," Sanders said. Lightspeed keeps a database of roughly 2 million recognized sites categorized in groups like News, Adult or Violence. School clients or administrators of the product can limit access so kids can access only acceptable categories such as News or Education. For Sanders, if a site goes unrecognized, he simply bans it.
"We also have a new feature coming out very soon which will allow us to dynamically detect the use of CGI-based proxies and block that session and send a notification to the network administrator," said Sanders.
Send insights or tips on this topic to stefanie.olsen@cnet.com.
About the author
Stefanie Olsen covers science and technology for CNET News.com. In this series, she examines the young generation's unique immersion in the Web, cell phones, IM and online communities.
Tips and resources for parents
• Sit down with children when they're online, and make sure they visit only Web sites that are parent-approved. The American Library Association lists great sites for kids on its Web site.
• Use child-friendly search engines or one with parental controls. KidsClick, for example, is a Web search site by librarians.
• Establish a family e-mail account.
• Talk to children about their online activities and online friends because to them, the Internet is an extension of the real world.
• Establish rules for the Internet. Studies from Canada's Media Awareness group have shown that children respond positively to established rules.
Related news
MySpace reaching out to parents
Teaching kids to drive the Net
Protective parents: Gold for cellular services?
E-bullying on rise, say experts
Kids: high-tech's fussy new customers
NASA launches educational Web site
MIT's Negroponte dismisses laptop criticism
Let Goofy track your children
Windows Live parental controls due this summer
Do Web filters protect your child?
- Bryan
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.pctattletale.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.pctattletale.com</a>
- Bryan
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.pctattletale.com" target="_newWindow">http://www.pctattletale.com</a>
the watchdog program only keeps me from doing homework for my own college courses from work.
This practise you use is vile and sickning i suggest you stop immediatly
the watchdog program only keeps me from doing homework for my own college courses from work.
This practise you use is vile and sickning i suggest you stop immediatly
the watchdog program only keeps me from doing homework for my own college courses from work.
the watchdog program only keeps me from doing homework for my own college courses from work.
Not computer savy? Ask someone
The kid obviously thought out his method of accessing the site quite extensively. And probably uses the same method to access more inappropriate material to bypass his home computers filters.
It doesnt matter how "tech savy" you are... there is always some MORE savy to get around you. Sadly now a days it is the kids being more savy than many parents.
It is more about teaching your kids right and wrong than monitoring and blocking. And when they do stray from the path they should be corrected... and that might mean hard discipline. Something more than "i'll take your gameboy away" or "you dont get to watch american idol"
I was kidding about the cane though. ;)
Not computer savy? Ask someone
The kid obviously thought out his method of accessing the site quite extensively. And probably uses the same method to access more inappropriate material to bypass his home computers filters.
It doesnt matter how "tech savy" you are... there is always some MORE savy to get around you. Sadly now a days it is the kids being more savy than many parents.
It is more about teaching your kids right and wrong than monitoring and blocking. And when they do stray from the path they should be corrected... and that might mean hard discipline. Something more than "i'll take your gameboy away" or "you dont get to watch american idol"
I was kidding about the cane though. ;)
Im sorry but i must disagree with you on this point. Parental controll is not the issue the issue is that parents want total controll. That is impossible. Kids will always find away to avoid parental veiw. That is not a toyal bad thing however. Kids need their own private lives just as much as we do and invading that privacy only makes them resist us more. We give them their own space and they will give us ours. Think back to when you were a kid. Did you constantly have your parents looking over your shoulder, no you had your own time and you wanted to keep it that way. That is exactly how these kids feel. Don't get me wrong their going on social sites while in school when they are supposed to be doing work is not a good thing, but we need to allow them some space
It's quite easy to just block everything by default and allow specific protocols / sites.
Furthermore, it does NOT even need to be a transparent proxy - you can require students to login to the proxy. Everything can be monitored and logged.
Hell, there is no need to even give the kids internet access unless they are working on a specific class project. If they want to chat or play on MySpace, they can do so at home.
Administration / teachers computers should be on an isolated vlan from students and can have very different rulesets.
Kids that violate the school policy should just be suspended and or banned from using the schools computers and be done with it. Why mess around??? Why play these little games at all?
It's quite easy to just block everything by default and allow specific protocols / sites.
Furthermore, it does NOT even need to be a transparent proxy - you can require students to login to the proxy. Everything can be monitored and logged.
Hell, there is no need to even give the kids internet access unless they are working on a specific class project. If they want to chat or play on MySpace, they can do so at home.
Administration / teachers computers should be on an isolated vlan from students and can have very different rulesets.
Kids that violate the school policy should just be suspended and or banned from using the schools computers and be done with it. Why mess around??? Why play these little games at all?
If they (the parents) would teach little Johnny or Suzy the hazards of the internet at home and make them understand that it "could" be a dangerous or bad place to go at times, then all this GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP wouldnt be taking place. We can not watch TV without government sensorship...now we are letting them take over the internet a little bit a time. Before long, we will need to ask permission to go to googles home page because someone is offended by the 2 "O's" in the name because the look to much like a part of the female anatomy!!!
Students are also encouraged to read at school, but it doesn't give them unlimited license to bring pornography on school grounds lest it be called censorship.
This isn't about accessing informative content of a controversial nature or banning books from school libraries. It's about stopping kids from looking at porn and wasting their day on My Space when they should be working. This is just an updated version of telling a kid to stop passing notes back and forth during class.
Before crying foul and waving your arms around in mock hysteria while making silly theatrical statements about GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP, you should step back and realize that the Internet is not being censored. The United States Department of Education isn't shutting down offensive sites or restricting the content being distributed. An individual school is telling its students, "Don't go to these sites while you're at school". The sites themselves are still there and fully accessible by machines not on school grounds.
I suppose it's more fun to act as though this is just another sign of American complacency at the inevitability of an Orwellian society.
Please.
A bit of advice. Save the bell ringing for reasons that cause merit so as not to dilute the inertia of the message. Actual censorship should be fought on every count. This type of fluff just distracts from any worthwhile argument.
As far as "It's the parent's job" statements...
Last time I checked, parents didn't attend school with their children to watch over their shoulder. And children tended to do things even when they were raised not to do them. It's a popular argument, I'll admit, but all of society's ills do not automatically fall on the parent's shoulders in every scenario. Pressing a button to make objectionable material inaccessible during school hours achieves the task even when children do things that they're told not to do...which actually does happen from time to time.
If they (the parents) would teach little Johnny or Suzy the hazards of the internet at home and make them understand that it "could" be a dangerous or bad place to go at times, then all this GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP wouldnt be taking place. We can not watch TV without government sensorship...now we are letting them take over the internet a little bit a time. Before long, we will need to ask permission to go to googles home page because someone is offended by the 2 "O's" in the name because the look to much like a part of the female anatomy!!!
Students are also encouraged to read at school, but it doesn't give them unlimited license to bring pornography on school grounds lest it be called censorship.
This isn't about accessing informative content of a controversial nature or banning books from school libraries. It's about stopping kids from looking at porn and wasting their day on My Space when they should be working. This is just an updated version of telling a kid to stop passing notes back and forth during class.
Before crying foul and waving your arms around in mock hysteria while making silly theatrical statements about GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP, you should step back and realize that the Internet is not being censored. The United States Department of Education isn't shutting down offensive sites or restricting the content being distributed. An individual school is telling its students, "Don't go to these sites while you're at school". The sites themselves are still there and fully accessible by machines not on school grounds.
I suppose it's more fun to act as though this is just another sign of American complacency at the inevitability of an Orwellian society.
Please.
A bit of advice. Save the bell ringing for reasons that cause merit so as not to dilute the inertia of the message. Actual censorship should be fought on every count. This type of fluff just distracts from any worthwhile argument.
As far as "It's the parent's job" statements...
Last time I checked, parents didn't attend school with their children to watch over their shoulder. And children tended to do things even when they were raised not to do them. It's a popular argument, I'll admit, but all of society's ills do not automatically fall on the parent's shoulders in every scenario. Pressing a button to make objectionable material inaccessible during school hours achieves the task even when children do things that they're told not to do...which actually does happen from time to time.
Heck, they already do it to block email, and instant messageing. Sure, they won't be able to block gmail chats, but that's trite in comparisen.
My old high school lab tech also had the ability to lock our screens; black it out, make mouse and keyboard strikes disappear. And rather easily, too. They would also block image searches. Period. You had to ask permission from a teacher who had access or the lab tech on duty. Who would probably be watching your computer screen anyway. And don't think they'd come around to your computer to login either; no, they would take control of the computer via some program, and type it in remotely via their computer.
We used to proxy our way out of the network; which was being monitored as I was told after I graduated by the senior tech. They let us do it because we wen't doing anything dumb. Just checking our email, and doing research on topics which normally would have had to ask permission to do. So in short, I could just say, we wern't stupid enough to surf porn on school computers.
And just to mention -- students don't have many rights while in school. Even after the age of 18. Not until they leave school grounds, or graduate.
the used ports, there are always those sites that give the wierd
ones like 81 and such. The funny thing at our school is that
everyone gets school issued Mac's and most of the kids have
already hacked it and made it so you can disable anything you
want. Last year was the same but last year we had remote desktop,
it was some funny stuff. Got to remember that kids are computer
smart these days.
Heck, they already do it to block email, and instant messageing. Sure, they won't be able to block gmail chats, but that's trite in comparisen.
My old high school lab tech also had the ability to lock our screens; black it out, make mouse and keyboard strikes disappear. And rather easily, too. They would also block image searches. Period. You had to ask permission from a teacher who had access or the lab tech on duty. Who would probably be watching your computer screen anyway. And don't think they'd come around to your computer to login either; no, they would take control of the computer via some program, and type it in remotely via their computer.
We used to proxy our way out of the network; which was being monitored as I was told after I graduated by the senior tech. They let us do it because we wen't doing anything dumb. Just checking our email, and doing research on topics which normally would have had to ask permission to do. So in short, I could just say, we wern't stupid enough to surf porn on school computers.
And just to mention -- students don't have many rights while in school. Even after the age of 18. Not until they leave school grounds, or graduate.
the used ports, there are always those sites that give the wierd
ones like 81 and such. The funny thing at our school is that
everyone gets school issued Mac's and most of the kids have
already hacked it and made it so you can disable anything you
want. Last year was the same but last year we had remote desktop,
it was some funny stuff. Got to remember that kids are computer
smart these days.
Oh wow, credit card numbers! SS number! Oooh! and a United
States Education PIN! Thanks a lot, you gave me a new identity.
No, seriously, any senior tech can block any port he/she wants
whenever he/she wants. It's just a matter of knowing which
ports to block, and the ability to watch all the time for any
activity which appears to be a little... weird for school lab "work."
How's that going to give you a new identity? You'll still need an IP address, and user login and password.
I access mine through port 47382. Is that going to help you any?
Oh wow, credit card numbers! SS number! Oooh! and a United
States Education PIN! Thanks a lot, you gave me a new identity.
No, seriously, any senior tech can block any port he/she wants
whenever he/she wants. It's just a matter of knowing which
ports to block, and the ability to watch all the time for any
activity which appears to be a little... weird for school lab "work."
How's that going to give you a new identity? You'll still need an IP address, and user login and password.
I access mine through port 47382. Is that going to help you any?
Oh wow, credit card numbers! SS number! Oooh! and a United
States Education PIN! Thanks a lot, you gave me a new identity.
No, seriously, any senior tech can block any port he/she wants
whenever he/she wants. It's just a matter of knowing which
ports to block, and the ability to watch all the time for any
activity which appears to be a little... weird for school lab "work."
Oh wow, credit card numbers! SS number! Oooh! and a United
States Education PIN! Thanks a lot, you gave me a new identity.
No, seriously, any senior tech can block any port he/she wants
whenever he/she wants. It's just a matter of knowing which
ports to block, and the ability to watch all the time for any
activity which appears to be a little... weird for school lab "work."
If I ran a company, and I fired workers for looking at porn, will you seriously be yapping about censorship? They are not at school just because that was the nearest available daycare. School is an institution with a set purpose. Just as looking at porn is generally not in most people's job description, it is not under the goal and purposes of most schools. So, if someone decides to ban porn at their school, they have a legitimate right to do so.
Sure, being able to email, and do research without the permission of the lab tech is sure nice, and should be allowed. But access porn websites, copyright violating websites, websites which have tools to bypass copyright prevention tools, and so forth isn't part of the learning experience. And thus, should be done on your own free time.
When I graduate college, I will probably end up being a network admin. And as such, I will have full control over what my users will be able to view and not view. Trust me, kids, if you think they havn't thought of something, and you try it. It's highly, HIGHLY probable that the network admin will know about it within the next 24 hours and will have a way to block it from happening again.
If I ran a company, and I fired workers for looking at porn, will you seriously be yapping about censorship? They are not at school just because that was the nearest available daycare. School is an institution with a set purpose. Just as looking at porn is generally not in most people's job description, it is not under the goal and purposes of most schools. So, if someone decides to ban porn at their school, they have a legitimate right to do so.
Sure, being able to email, and do research without the permission of the lab tech is sure nice, and should be allowed. But access porn websites, copyright violating websites, websites which have tools to bypass copyright prevention tools, and so forth isn't part of the learning experience. And thus, should be done on your own free time.
When I graduate college, I will probably end up being a network admin. And as such, I will have full control over what my users will be able to view and not view. Trust me, kids, if you think they havn't thought of something, and you try it. It's highly, HIGHLY probable that the network admin will know about it within the next 24 hours and will have a way to block it from happening again.
all i had to do is google lists of cgi ssl proxies.
theres quite a few tutorials on how to get past it all like - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://zensur.freerk.com" target="_newWindow">http://zensur.freerk.com</a>
all i had to do is google lists of cgi ssl proxies.
theres quite a few tutorials on how to get past it all like - <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://zensur.freerk.com" target="_newWindow">http://zensur.freerk.com</a>