Firewall Traversal for Macs?

TexTex asks: "I find myself lacking in many of the joys of the internet while at work, largely because of a particularly effective firewall. While it works great at keeping stuff out, it also keeps me in. FTP and HTTP proxies are the only available exit (no SOCKS). Also, I'm using a Mac so firewall support on many of the apps are not as flexible as I'd like. Napster, Gntuella, and Quicktime streams are unavailable (not to mention all those swell Yahoo internet games). Any ideas how a lone Mac user can escape from the inside?"

Comments

ZDNet Alternatip on Firewalls

[Prolog-X]

ZD's Firewalls Alternatip might be useful. Hope this helps.

Go to the source of the problem

[maggard]

Your issue seems to be your employer has limited your access to the internet. Unless you've left something out of your message it's irrelevant whater or not you're on a Mac.

As I see it you have four choices:

1. Accept that your employer has made a decision about how they want their computers on their network used by their employees on time they're paying for to use their internet connection.
2. Speak to your Manager, IS Administrator, whomever is appropriate and request greater access. Be prepared to provide a business-relatad justification for the greater access.
3. Try and get around the policies that have been established, run various applications through non-standard ports etc. and generally subvert your employers policies. Don't be suprised the day someone twigs what you're attempting to pull and you find yourself abruptly terminated for cause.
4. Leave the company for someplace with policies more to your liking. Frankly if getting unfettered 'net access during working hours is so critical to you I'd worry about loosing perspective but hey, it's your call. I just wouldn't try to explain to a potential employer that you left your previous job for this reason...

Hold on there sparky...

[heliocentric]

I work at a company where we keep the firewall pretty tight (and we just loosened it to allow outbound telnet - something I thought I'd never see) as well as take other security issues in mind (we consider running non-standard/non-supported software a security risk). Have you consulted your company's Internet usage guideline? I know for a fact our specificaly limits all non-work related computer use to surfing the web during lunch and nothing else is permitted. You might want to consider that someone put that firewall there so you can't do these activities for a reason - they don't want you to. Now, I'm the first person to complain about these rules, but it's not my job to stand up and get my head cut off I just enforce policy and go home. They own the machines, the CAT5, the routers, and pay for the Internet hookup. Like it or not, they have the right to say what you can and can not do with their property. Don't like it - quit - it's a lot nicer than getting fired...