Many companies use some sort of web filter system to keep employees from visiting “time wasting” sites like Facebook, MySpace, eBay, and more. Such filters can be the bane of existence for many employees, and they are hard to get around. You might have heard of “proxy servers”, which act as a kind of “middleman”: your work computer connects to the proxy server, which then connects to the site you actually want to visit; the proxy then sends the content back to your work computer. Such a setup also allows you to access geographically-restricted content; a British computer user, for example, can connect to a proxy server in the US to access Hulu.com to watch US-only content.
The trouble with proxy servers is that most web filters block them too. But chances are those filters haven’t blocked your own home computer, and setting up your very own proxy server is actually pretty easy. This post over at Lifehacker.com shows you how to do it in a handful of easy steps. Once you have everything up and running, you should be able to connect to your home computer from work and access any site you want!
A REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT WARNING: Bypassing web filters is a fireable offense at many companies. In fact, the more locked-down your work Internet experience is, the more likely your could be fired for trying to bypass their Internet security measures. Although the IT guys won’t be able to see which sites you visit, they will be able to see multiple connections to your home computer via port 80, so they’ll be able to tell that you’re using a proxy. In this crappy economy, you might not want to lose your job just so you can browse Facebook at the office. You’ve been warned!