Tech-savvy teenagers are increasingly turning to proxy servers to access banned websites
Recent figures suggest that many school pupils are using proxy servers to bypass school VPNs to help them gain access to banned websites, such as gaming sites and social networking sites.
The research shows that use of ‘proxies’ has risen sharply in recent years with young pupils becoming ever more tech savvy and finding ways around the restrictions installed on school VPN connections.
Many schools set their VPN configuration to restrict access to certain non-educational sites but proxy server sites allow them to simply type the URL of the site they want to visit into their page and then view the site anyway. Any monitoring facility built into the school’s VPN would show the computer as viewing only one site – the proxy site – and not any further web activity.
As well as the issue of pupils using their learning time effectively, there are also security concerns, with large VPNs, such as those used in schools, being prone to attack from malicious software and viruses. Accessing banned sites through proxy servers opens the VPN up to potential software threats and even cyber criminals, who can manipulate or even damage machines or whole VPNs.
It is possible to block certain proxy servers but there are so many of them as to render a complete block impossible – M86 Security, who monitor such sites, counted just over 7,000 in 2006, a figure that has risen to around 91,000 in 2009. New innovations in VPN security are beginning to curb this trend, however, and pupils have reported that they are finding it more and more difficult to get around VPN restrictions.