Proxy Sites Offer Secret Passage to Myspace

JafSquared writes "As sites like MySpace.com gain popularity in young adults, schools all over are finding that taking measures to keep kids blocked out of these websites is becoming increasingly difficult. As this hype continues, proxy servers such as "Box of Prox" are springing up like wildfire. While system admins furiously work to diminish the strain placed on their school's local networks from sites like MySpace, these proxy sites are enabling easy access to restricted areas. However, schools aren't the only places that are feeling the heat. Proxies have also been becoming a bit of a complication in the workplace. To the more advanced user, the proxy server can become a tool for malicious intent as this article, delivering an anecdote with the termination of an employee, so poignantly details."

Comments

Proxies?

[Goaway]

Wow, Slashdot sure is on the CUTTING EDGE of TECHNOLOGY NEWS!

Do we have a war on social networking yet?

[Spazntwich]

I'm just waiting for more fallacious appeals to emotion in the fight against kids talking to one another.

Do politicians even consider how ridiculous their arguments are? Why, ghettos have become a haven for drug dealers, prostitutes, and other nerdowells! Do we ban ghettos? No, I believe parents simply teach their kids about the dangers of going there, and before they're old enough to understand that, the parents simply don't allow them to go there.

It's sad how human ignorance comes back with a vengeance with the emergence of any new technology or tool, without fail.

Re:Do we have a war on social networking yet?

[namityadav]

If school admins try to block sites that kids just HAVE to get to, then the kids will find a way to do so (Hint for Kids: Read about SSH / VPN). And once they know that they've found a way to bypass the school security, their curious minds would want them to check if they can now access porn this way too. The point that I am trying to make here is that the more freedom you try to take away, the more you're encouraging them to break the rules. I, for one, am happy that this will make at least a certain percentage of the kids aware of proxies, private networks etc. It's time that those nerds get to have some 'coolness' factor about them.

Restrictions are evolutionary pressure

[Gopal.V]

The average kid in school, thinks proxies and mucking around with computer stuff are the realm of nerds, sitting in their parents' basement typing away, creating a pathetic online world to compensate for the real one upstairs.

But the moment, you introduce blockades to access to a "cool" thing like myspace or facebook, these talents become valuable in terms of utilization. More kids learn these, use these and try to out-do the other in terms of l33tness. If there aren't the artificial boundaries drawn by the authorities, these skills would have never been learnt, developed and hopefully put to good use in the future.

Whatever they block these with, they just raise the bar for the kids. Clever, curious and with the power of the rest of the internet behind them ... there's nothing that's totally blocked off. Probably threats to those who break the security and offer real world punishments maybe, but blocking it all is impractical. Of course, then there are those who prefer forbidden fruit to the ones in the fridge, for the momentary thrill of breaking some rules.

I remember breaking the proxy at a college where I was giving a talk. All I did was ssh -D 8080 into my box and bypassed the "security" of the campus network. But I did that by unplugging the monitor cable, running ssh and plugging the monitor back on in under 2 minutes.And lo, meebo.com suddenly worked. The kids thought I was some great genius or something. THat kind of ego-rush to a 17 year old teenager can drive them to do far more than just break firewalls to get kudos from their peers.

These kind of restrictions just favour the kids who learn to use the system, instead of just fighting it on the streets like the average politico.

What?!?!?!

[Belial6]

What does the internet have to do with ADHD? Ohhhh... That's right. Anything we don't like kids doing must cause ADHD.