school firewall question

[c44151]

my school has a firewall in it and I am not trying to get passed it. but by clicking on an ebay link in techimo I got the you are not alowed there cause of the firewall(in short). Now can the amid find out that I went to this site. just wondering incase I might have a visit from someone.

[tmx468]

It may not be the firewall that blocked the site. A lot of schools have firewalls and also software or limits on what sites can be surfed to.
This would log what has been blocked, and most places like ebay are blocked. I doubt you would get in trouble, no matter what methods of logging are made.

[Bill in SD, CA]

Out of curiousity, are failed Admin passwords logged?

Bill

[blubomber]

I would think that if you kept trying to get to ebay or another site that has been blocked, you might get a call of visit from someone. So just dont try it again.

Bill, all the failed admin password tries are logged on my network. It depends on what is being logged and how often it is checked.

[DVNT1]

c44151: Probably can but depends on their software and related settings.

Bill in SD, CA: yes, in our network I log all failed and successful logons; I don't review the logs often though.

[kaziah]

Yes, we're watching you...

<cough>

Anyway... we have state level filtering where I'm from. The state provides the services for free, and we can either let them control the allowed/blocked lists, or we can opt for 'local control' and do it ourselves. We use other software here locally to do the kind of monitoring you're talking about, but I must confess... we're usually overworked/understaffed and we don't have the time to sit over you guys like a hawk =) Nor should we need to I guess, but we do usually have those tools available to us if we need them. We are responsible for these networks, afterall, and for what goes on while they're being used... so beware...

Muhahahaahahahah

<cough>

Anyway... I doubt you have to worry about any visitors. Usually IT staff has far more pressing matters to attend to like security rollouts, virus attacks, users playing marbles with their mice balls again, etc. =)

Ebay is a popular site to be blocked. You guys are suppose to be learning instead of crusing ebay, afterall =) I doubt you'll have anything to worry about unless you were really doing something wrong though =) Let your conscience be your guide there, and abide by the rules to the best of your ability, and the IT Grim Reaper will probably never rear his ugly head =)

Take care...

[butch81385]

i always hated the blocking in highschool... what if i had a study hall and had access to the internet... why couldnt i check on my bids on ebay? also, one of my friends hacked into the system, and they found out, so as part of the punishment they added his site to the block list (which meant my email though his site was blocked also). it was unnecessary since his site had no controversial material... but we did find out that we could access it if we left off the www. in front... hehe...

[phrozen_dreamz]

School---------Local T1 Server---------Government owned server that filters websites for most of the area-----------back to school. That's how my school is it sucks. When doing research many sites are blocked! Yet to get a visit!

[butch81385]

that just reminded me... if you got a "website blocked" while in the library at my school, you had to report it to the librarian or he would find you (you had to sign in on the computer) and call you to his office... he was quite anal... we called him the "book nazi" (no offense to any Jewish people, librarians, or former or current nazis....)

[kaziah]

Yeah, blocking can be a pain sometimes, and as most things are, some of the 'good guys' suffer a bit because of the 'bad guys'. Even worse, sometimes one bad guy will ruin it for all of us =)

Anyway... most of our school teachers here don't have any problem allowing a student to do some casual web browsing and e-mail as long as the student's work is done. It's good for them to be more familiar with the digital world, when they have the spare time. There are virtually unlimited resources out there, and it connects us all in a way that's never been possible before. It's great =)

Unfortunately though, when something does happen that needs attention, it boils down to a site either being blocked or not blocked. We haven't had any problems with eBay or the like here, so those sites aren't blocked. If we ever do have a problem with it, like students not doing their work, or content that's not suitable for the school environment showing up through it, or whatever, we would block that site. Sometimes that means cutting off a few that weren't doing anything wrong, but when we can only do one or the other... well, I'm sure you get the picture.