Bypass Websense

Employers, government agencies, and libraries are increasingly using Websense and other internet filters to block access to certain websites. While these filters can cut down on the exposure to viruses, help thwart hacking attempts, and possibly increase employee productivity they can also prevent access to a variety of popular websites. Fortunately, bypassing Websense is surprisingly easy.

Steps

  1. Find a proxy or circumvention site. A range of proxy sites offer a way to bypass Websense by, for example, using a secure connection (note that the url begins with "https," not "http"). You can access the circumventor or proxy site, and then access blocked sites through that. Alternatively you can use a program called vpntunnel to run programs (like bittorrent or games like World of Warcraft etc).
  2. Type the url you want to go to in the box on the site. Once you access the proxy site, enter the address of the site you want to go to in the box on the screen. If you're using vpntunnel, install and log in with the software.
    • Install a circumventor program on your home computer. At Peacefire.org you can download a circumventor program on your home computer so that you can access blocked sites at other locations by connecting to your home computer. Download a couple programs, and run the setup, and the program will give you a url you can use to access it from anywhere. Write down this url and carry it with you. Note: you don't download the programs onto the computer with the filter--you download them onto another computer that you can connect to from the filtered computer.
    • Enter the url for your home computer in the web browser on the filtered computer. When you're at a computer with a filtered connection (at work or at the library, for instance), simply enter the URL the circumventor program gave you, and you will be able to access blocked sites via your home computer. Note that this will only work if your home computer is on and connected to the internet.
    • Use command prompt to find the websites IP. This is quite a good method, using the PING function on Windows PCs, you can find the websites IP Address, and use direct access. If the website is on a Shared Server however, it is USUALLY like this: http://123.123.123.123/~WEBSITENAME

Quick Fix

  1. Google the URL you would like to get on.
  2. Looks for the 2 links next to the search results: "cached", and "similar".
  3. Click "cached". It will be a version that's a few days old, but it should work perfectly 95% of the time.



Tips

  • This allows you to use games, downloads etc: In the Start Menu, go to Run and type "cmd" without the quotes. Press Enter. In the window that comes up, type "ping www.whateverwebsite.com" and press Enter. It will say "Pinging www.whateverwebsite.com [#.#.#.#] with 32 bytes of data." The numbers after whateverwebsite.com are the site's IP address. Enter these numbers, with the periods between them, in your browser's address bar. You will be able to access the page and all functionality will be normal. - Does not work with Websense or Norton Parental Control. May work with other filters.
  • If you just want to read the text, type the site's url into the Google search box and when the list of results comes, click on the "cached" link.
  • The proxy site may have options to block cookies, scripts, etc. You may have trouble accessing or displaying many sites if you have all of these blocks enabled, especially for scripts.
  • The way this works is that the proxy avoidance site is hosted on a non-filtered connection. The page is routed through that connection to your computer.
  • Since proxies get blocked often you should join a proxy mailing list to keep getting fresh proxies daily.
  • Websense can also be circumvented by using AOLOpenRide software. You'll need an AOL/AIM screen name and log in, but the OpenRide browser bypasses the WebSense filters.
  • Use the Google translation feature to function as a proxy. Type in this url "https://www.google.com/translate?langpair=fr|en&u=www.<sitenamehere>.com". It uses Google to "bounce" the website, and since it moves through google it should function unless Google is blocked. This might not work with Websense.

Warnings

  • Be careful. If the librarian or your employer catches you accessing censored sites on a filtered connection, you could be in trouble. You could even lose your job, but more likely your boss will want to know how you did that. Don't show him.
  • If Websense blocks the bypassing websites, you can't access it.
  • Most of these steps won't work if your IT Department is halfway decent. Most places with restricted web access also restrict you from installing programs. Your best bet is finding a proxy that hasn't been blocked but beware because Websense looks for trends like this and locks them down daily.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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