Getting Around A Firewall?

[Crimson-Hawk]

I had a question... (and this is my own personal issue; I'll understand if the answer is "No, Can't Be Done")

Some may or may not have noticed my absences from the chats (some may have even breathed a sigh of relief from it). The reason being is that my hours at work have changed... I work from Noon until 9pm Central on weekdays. Now, my duties would allow me to attend chat, so long as I got my work done at the same time... except that the proxy server I have Internet access on has a b***** of a firewall... Apparently, it prevents the chat room applet from even initializing.

Is it possible to access the chat room despite a firewall?

Thanks in advance for an answer.

[mudpyr8]

Generally no. Unless the applet allows you to specify a port that is not blocked by the firewall, there is little you can do.

[RPMiller]

You might be able to ask the IT gents to open the required port for you, but you would have to find out what port it is using first. Isn't Dan Simon in charge of that, or is it Ben?

Of course, there is also the political "stuff" you may have to wade through...

It may also be possible right now... You are accessing chat via a browser, correct? Do you have a proxy client installed on your computer at work? This may be all you need to do.

[THartman]

Oh, it's possible, but quite likely not worth the pain involved (unless the IT person at your place of employ will open the required ports). Generally, what you would need to do is:


Get an account on a *nix server.

Open an SSH session to that server (if your firewall allows SSH connections.)

Issue a couple of commands that open a 'pipe' (ie, the *nix box sends and receives data on the specified port and then 'pipes' it to you over the SSH connection and on your end you locally put it gets turned back into the right port for the java applet.)


Now... I've seen this done. I saw someone do it to get past a school firewall to open an IRC connection. But I couldn't tell you the specific commands to use or anything. I just know the theory

-Todd

[RPMiller]

Oh, it's possible, but quite likely not worth the pain involved (unless the IT person at your place of employ will open the required ports). Generally, what you would need to do is:

Ask...

I am the IT person...

SSH connections are going to be closed by default, except at schools where the IT folks typically don't have a clue about IT. (No offense to IT folks at schools) At least that is the case at every college and university in the greater Sacramento area.

[THartman]

It's been my experience that SSH is often allowed and Telnet is (or properly should be) closed down. Most colleges don't block ports, though intelligent ones do packet-shaping. Most businesses and high-schools either close everything or nothing. Some businesses will close Telnet but not SSH.

Anyhow, the whole point of it was, IF he has SSH, he could tunnel the appropriate port across SSH to a *nix server, which could then be used to access the chat.

-Todd