Security → how to encode URLs? bypass school filters.

How do I encode/encrypt URLs to get past keyword filters? PHProxy works great but sites like youtube.com and newgrounds.com don't work at all in PHProxy and other webproxy sites. Is it possible to just have the URL encode feature since only keywords are blocked?

PHProxy doesn't do flash or embedded stuff like at MySpace. It also doesn't handle javascript very well. The reason content filters work is they check the content of the page, not the actual URL. So encoding just the URL is pointless. The javascript/flash comments about phproxy came directly from the person who wrote phproxy, he's a pretty good friend of mine.

This filter checks only the URL. The word "forum" is blocked by the filters, but I can still access forums using PHProxy. So just the encoding will be enough.

Most of the photoshop tutorials on good-tutorials.com posted on forums. It's hard to do something since the good ones are almost always on forums and I can't go to any sites with the word "forum" in the URL.

Is there anything that just encodes the URL only?

Thanks.

Your school owns the access, so they can legitimately choose to filter whatever they want. You're not likely to get much advice here to defeat those filters.

You could always go to the public library and use their access to get to the Photoshop tutorials you're after.

If these are legitimate free tutorials for Photoshop, you might do well to ask about alternate sources in the DI Tech Forum here, »Digital Imaging Technology .

But, if they're really 'cracked' copies, I wouldn't count on the guys over there telling you where else to find them.

The photoshop tutorials are just an example, I also want to look at other sites. The point of this is so that I can access the sites without having to go to a library and spending time there. Is there anything that just encodes the URL? That's all I need.

What if this is just a question about bypassing the word filters, not mentioning about school?

There are sites which could help you do what you think will bypass the proxy. Your statement
"What if this is just a question about bypassing the word filters, not mentioning about school?"
Gives me the impression you want to look at things the school does not want you too. Give an example of what you wish to view(URL) that your schools proxy blocks.

If hes not lieing about his reasons he wants to get to various photoshop turtorials on various forums. But his school blocks forum as a keyword in a url (damn lame of his school if you ask me) I know from experiance that some schools and lan admins do stupid crap ike this so it is possible hes not lieing about it.

The answer is...identify the sites that are legitimate and school related, and then pass them on to a teacher or administrator so that they might be able to grant you access (or submit them to the appropiate person in support). In many schools, any attempt to bypass a filter...even for "legitimate" reasons, results in disciplinary action and usually computer sanctions.

What did the school's IT team say when asked about allowing this use of their systems?

My guess is it is something on the order of www.littlegirltittiepics.com

Use a online Translator for accessing such blocked websites. This acts then as a proxy and your local computer sends and gets only requests from/to this translator website

»www.skweezer.net ?

... Upon reflection, I do not wish to post. Take me back! ...

Thanks for all the replies.

First of all, No disciplinary action will be taken against those who try to get past the filters. Since people have done it before, as long as those who do it remain a minority, no action will be taken. If the entire school starts doing it, then they'll just try to stop it from happening at most, again, no action taken against those who started it. It's a good school.

Next thing, anything with the word "forum(s)" is blocked. For some reason, even "microsoft" is blocked. There was a stock market assignment a while ago, many people tried to do one on microsoft but it was blocked. "Nike" is blocked too for some reason, so is "hotmail" and "gmail" and I think anything with the word "mail" in it.

Online translators don't work since the filter checks the URL for blocked keywords. There is no IP block, just keywords. If you used google, you will know how every search almost always has a result that leads to a forum, and it's usually the most helpful one with people asking/answering questions about the subject.

Submitting them to a teacher/adminstrator is not possible. Teachers get the same restrictions even when it's lesson/classwork related. If the filters don't get lifted for teachers, I doubt it will be lifted for students. The filters just basically blocks every popular site, whether it's school related or not. Example: I can visit »www.blahblahblah.com (not a real site) everyday for a month or two, afterwards, it will get added to the filter, even though there's nothing against the rules on the site.

I'm just looking for something that masks the URL, just that would be enough since there is no need for a proxy or anything, it's only a keyword filter. Is there anything that does that?

Thanks.

Ok am going to get flamed for this, but here it goes

goto www.whois.sc, type in the site that you want to go to and get the IP address, put the IP in the addresss bar

IE : »1.101.111.101

This then will most likely get you around their filters for a while. Also, you can use command prompt from home (It may work from the school (-: ), open command prompt, type "Ping www.mysite.com" and at the end it tells you their IP, again you can use this.
THis also tells you how to obscure the IP address/ Webaddress more: www.pc-help.org/obscure.htm

oh yes and please do not go to virus ridden sites/ Naughty sites, as this will land you in alot more water then bypassing their filters for a news site (I believe they do this in some schools), or a forum(What i used this mostly for.

Also when surfing a site and you click a link that says it has been blocked, just ctrl-c and ctrl-v the IP, replacing "www.blockedsite.com/xyz/forum/etc".

All sites quoted don't exist as far as i know, they are all of the top of my head.

BTW, I seriously hate school filters,

That won't work with virtual servers.

If you have a legitimate need to access these sites, the school shouldn't have a problem granting you access. Until that time, tough titty.

It's THEIR system, not yours. If I asked your neighbours how I could get around the locks on your front door, how would you react?

The controls are in place to limit the liability of the educational institution for the content exposed to the students. These controls are usually added at great expense to the owner, and I sincerely doubt that they'd "have no problem with going around it".

With all the time and effort spent trying to defeat your school's filter, you could already have found one of the several hundred million PCs on this planet with unfiltered Internet access and learned those Photoshop skills you claim to be searching for.

Will all do respect to the users that think the kid is up to no good. Why would he come and post here when there are thousands of script kiddies and hacking forums around? He could have simply gone there and asked. I think his intention is sincere.

Did they make you sign an agreement to use the internet? If they did, I would suggest that you read it before attempting to go around the filters. They put clauses in there that can lead up to explusion. And sometimes, they don't expell you, they charge your parents fines for your misconduct. Your family could end up paying to update the school's security.

The sincerity of his post is irrelevant. If the authorized owner and operator of the network in question has established a control to mitigate the risks of open internet usage, there is no legitimizing any attempts to circumvent that control.

If the owner of the data network decides to grant access to the requested resources, so be it. If the user doesn't want to approach the owner or administrator, and would rather circumvent the control covertly, how legitimate is the request?

I've seen many, MANY people lose their jobs for working around controls like these.

It's not.

Not to mention that, depending on the anality of the owner of the network and what kind of day a judge might be having, circumventing security measures on a taxpayer-funded data network [u]could[/u] be perceived as a terror threat under the USA-PATRIOT act.

Ya think? Elementary school? Get your own dial-up account to get to the sites that are blocked.

He could also use one of those AOL CDs

Check out »www.proxydom.com to bypass filters. It rocks.