Proxies pose a problem for kids

computer_networkI was approached by BBC Radio 1 about a piece they were pulling together on proxy servers. The angle they were exploring was that proxies were being used by kids, to defeat, the blocking filters used by their Schools. The link to the story can be found here.

It is an interesting subject. Undoubtedly, kids are using proxies as a way to get to web sites that are being blocked by their Schools. It really is a game of cat-and-mouse, with the Schools struggling to keep pace with the proxies and trying to black-list them. I think it an almost impossible task and it requires a different approach. I think there is a role for a better dialogue with the kids, in School, to better understand the sites that they really want to access. The School needs to take a view as to the educational or social worth of the sites requested. Having that dialogue, being seen to allow sites on the basis of merit, would then act as positive statement to all.

What the BBC Radio 1 piece also brings to the fore is that, the kids, are blissfully unaware that they can be putting themselves and the School in harm’s way. Many of these proxies sites are harbouring malware or potentially unwanted applications. In using the proxy, they are not aware that other things can be happening in the background. The proxy site could be a staging post for a key-logger, that could then provide details of the passwords and logins to stuff that kids care about: social networking sites and gaming sites (with their associated credentials etc). Once the kids were made aware of this, then their attitude to freely using proxies changes.

December 22, 2009 | Filed Under Security 

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