Managing iCT Managing iCT
Lengthening shadows
Tom Newton
with the right tools, even the most sophisticated
shadow-surfers can be stopped, but sadly the majority
explains
of security companies have been slow to acknowledge
the problem. In many cases, the large security vendors
wait until problems hit the corporate world before
shadow-surfing,
taking action. with our schools generally at the
bleeding edge of network filtering evasion, this is not
a new threat to
particularly helpful.
only a handful of “intelligent” second generation
school ICT security
filters are capable of checking the legitimacy of secure
web traffic and administrators looking to upgrade need
to make sure they are informed enough to ask the right
chool networkS across the globe questions of any potential new supplier.
S
are finding extra-curricular surfing lurking colin woodcock, learning co-ordinator at haven
in the shadow of their regular traffic. technology college in lincolnshire, says that shadow-
Shadow-surfing is a new term for an surfing is a significant barrier to learning, adding that
increasing problem – students browsing “students’ knowledge and ability to circumvent filtering
in secret, abusing network protocols to has recently become a major cause for concern”.
bypass filtering and evade detection. he has installed the latest technology to block proxies,
with rapid advances in technology, shadow surfers including secure ones such as Ultrasurf and tor.
have a surprisingly wide range of tools at their disposal In addition to employing the right tools, it is also
to subvert school security and prevent their browsing important to acknowledge that these problems do not lie
from appearing in security logs. entirely within the preserve of the It department.
Many school administrators are already working teaching staff must be aware of the Internet
hard to understand and prevent the problem, but some Acceptable Use Policy, and ought to know what pupils
students are sneaking past security, often with trojans, are allowed to access, and when. It is also worth making
worms and other web-based nasties hot on their heels. there is also much more at stake than simply stopping By way of a brief technical explanation, students sure that they understand the importance of reporting
A survey through the social networking website students from getting onto Facebook during lessons. the who want to do their surfing in secret have two possible illicit browsing – and do not simply assume that all
Facebook revealed that nearly half of 13 to 17-year- survey showed that 55 per cent of students had seen routes around the school filter. online activity will appear on the It department’s radar.
olds admitted to shadow-surfing at school. Videos on somebody accessing adult material at school. cyber- the first is using an “anonymous proxy website”. All too often teachers are subconsciously aware
Youtube now teach pupils how to use special websites bullying also becomes an issue if students can get there are millions of these available online and they of these issues, and better communication would
and software to bypass web filters, and a Google search unmonitored access to MySpace and Youtube. often have misleading and legitimate-looking names help highlight this to someone who can do something
for “unblock MySpace” returns almost a million sites So how do you know if shadow-surfing is a problem such as “mathshelp.info”, designed to fool those about it.
dedicated to sidestepping school security. in your school? Unfortunately there is no easy way to monitoring web traffic. Fortunately most intelligent If considering software to tackle this problem,
Shadow-surfing tools like “tor” and “Ultrasurf” are find out. If shadow-surfers are secretly using proxy tools web filters can now effectively detect and block access always try before you buy (experiment to see if you
better known to hackers than network administrators, and programs to bypass school security and access illicit to these sites. can beat the filter) and ask difficult questions such as:
yet to many of our children these are household names. sites, they are unlikely to appear on network logs. the second and more sophisticated way to shadow- “will this product handle secure (or encrypted) traffic
As students switch on to foxing web filters in schools, the first step is to talk to It staff. Do they understand surf is to use an “anonymizer software tool” like or rapidly changing proxy sites?” SecEd
the phenomenon spreads to the workplace. the threat? If they do, there is a good chance they have Ultrasurf or tor. these types of software programs
corporate It departments are already dealing with a already begun looking for a solution. If they do not, are far more difficult to detect and block. they allow • Tom Newton is product manager at SmoothWall.
new wave of “digital natives” who are much more net- they perhaps need encouraging to join some technology surfing to be done in complete secrecy using secure
savvy than their predecessors. these are the sort of skills forums, where administrators can share ideas and work connections (like the ones used for online banking
Further information
that we do not want our children to learn in school. to solve problems (a popular forum is edugeek). when a padlock appears in your toolbar). edugeek: www.edugeek.net
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