Serious Problems with bess!!!

[BLONDINE]

Basically there is this firewall that my school has decided to use to block EVERYTHING...and to be honest I am very surprised I can get onto AGN...The Firewall is called Bess and it is run by a Stupid Dog...here is the site and if you can help me to override it that would be GREAT!!

This is the home page:
http://www.n2h2.com/products/bess_home.php

This is what it gives me when I get blocked from something:
http://n2h2.mhs-pa.org:18190/blockpage.html?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.com% 2Fsoccerfreak4489%2FDSCN0749.JPG&ip=66.218.77.68&clientip=172.16.43.92&cats=FP&username=WORKGROUP%5CWelskoA&replycode=block

[AsMadAsAHatter]

hehe...so desperate..i wonder if anyone will help you..if anyone will respond to your cry of the evil firewall...heheheh..great entertainment..

[Glitch]

My (moo, deperado, goat, and war lord included) school had the exact same thing. Fuck that dog Bess. I never did find a way around it.....

[BLONDINE]

My (moo, deperado, goat, and war lord included) school had the exact same thing. Fuck that dog Bess. I never did find a way around it.....

That just kinda Makes me want to cry now....I hate that bitch....

Dani: You are a bum....and yes I am VERY desperate... :( ....

[AtmaWeapon]

I had a run-in with a pseudo-Bess filter and it seemed (seemed my foot, read * for explanation) that it had a blacklist of web sites it would not allow. URL matches the blacklist strings? Oh well. I'm fairly certain it can do word filtering as well, so suppose you looked for pages about getting around it, it would block pages that it determined contained that information.

Judging from the web site you pointed to, particularly the diagram on the "How it works" page, it would appear that the server with the blacklist is run by Bess. If you can find a way into that server and figure out how to make alterations while escaping the notice of the authorities, I say lots of people would thank you.

Otherwise, you are stuck. It's possible you could get around it with tunneling or proxies, but it's also possible the Bess filter blocks proxy activity.

Keep in mind that taxpayers pay a lot of money for schools to have internet access for the purpose of education, and every bit you download contributes to that cost. If your filter is like the ones I ran into, there are quite a few false positives (allied health always had a tough time researching breast cancer) so it's possible your frustration is real. If, however, you are upset because you can't check your email, read forums, etc., I have a lot less pity. I'm sure if the filter blocks too many sites, one of the school board members will get pissed enough to get the IT department to nix it.

*side story
My school ran Fortres Gran Security which had a "Bess Internet Filter". What this meant was the security app had a blacklist that behaved like the Bess filter, for all I could see. Fortres itself was simple to crack. Stick a bootdisk in, C:>ren FORTRES 0WNED, then reboot. Windows says "Oh noes a dll can't be found" and Fortres is defeated. Later I was able to get the password through social engineering, and it was much easier to use that than to reboot.

The district does seem to run some kind of server-level filter, but it gets confused easily. While working in the Tech department one summer, I found that if you clicked refresh enough times you could visit 99% of blocked pages.

*edit*
Geez, since they are targetting schools, they could have spelled "inappropriate" correctly in their "Sentian Overview" flash.

[BLONDINE]

If you can find a way into that server and figure out how to make alterations while escaping the notice of the authorities, I say lots of people would thank you.

Otherwise, you are stuck. It's possible you could get around it with tunneling or proxies, but it's also possible the Bess filter blocks proxy activity.



Do you have any idea to how I would even attempt to get myself into the server...and if not, do you have any proxy sites that I can use...I used to have a couple from my friends but they tracked them down and Bessed them as well...

And there are many reason to why I want to figure out away around bess first yes to be able to check e-mail and read post but it goes further than that...I have had many classes that I have had hard trouble ever finding information in..and almost failed a science, History and english class because of it..that stupid dpg drives me crazy...

I have to say I am almost surprised there isn't anyone on AGN that has figured out a way around it with a override password or some one that even helps make bess..HaHa....

[Pablo]

In my four years of dealing with Bess, I never found a way around it. But now I don't have time for the Net at school, so I don't even know what kind of filtering my school has :)

[richie]

Our school also has such programs.
If you should be still online after shutting it down, you may try that:
1. Open the system properties
2. Open 'Services'
3. Look for 'Network Services'
4. choose the bess program
5. click 'end service'

I'm lucky. That's the easiest way with our school program (MasterEye)

I hope it helps. If it doesn't, you may be at least in trouble (Hope you won't)

[hellebeest]

I used their URL tool


Thank you for your submission. Below please find a listing of the category (ies) in which your submitted URL appears. For a detailed description of each category, visit our filtering categories section.


The Site: http://www.armageddongames.net/
is not currently categorized in the N2H2 database.

Should you still wish to inquire about the URL in question after checking with your System Administrator, please submit your request to N2H2's Review Editors for further analysis.

[BLONDINE]

I used their URL tool

Ok, I probably should know how and all...but how do I use a URL tool..what is it? I think I just made it clear how "blonde" I really am... ;)

And thanks everyone I appreciate your help...I found that even the computers has there properties on the computer itself locked and can only be opened with a password and the correct opperator...last year it was easy the pass word was "doughnut" and everyone figured out the way around everything but since then they have upgraded all of the computers and I can't even find in the folders where the beast lies...I am not totally sure if the locks on the computers has to do with the internet but I just wanted to make sure you all knew what exactly we are dealing with...Hershey Doesn't play....

[ShadowTiger]

So www.unipeak.com doesn't work? :shakeno:

[BLONDINE]

no it doesn't.... :(

[hellebeest]

That Bess works through that N2H2 database right?
So I was just thinking it's not Bess blocking these forums since it's not in their db :shrug:

[BLONDINE]

right...but Bess Blocks other places just like this...What makes the AGN special?