Accessing Banned Sites

bugler

Hello.

A friend of mine recently relocated to a Middle Eastern country. We'd be counting on the internet to stay in touch, and sure enough she we have been through email. But her new home also has a long list of innocuous sites that are banned because they are un-Islamic or a threat to the fabric of society or whatever.

My question to you folks is this: are there any websites or indeed software programs that will allow her to view these sites uninhibited? Obviously freebies would be preferable, but any relevant suggestions would be welcome.

Hagar

Be real careful what you say in your emails. Real careful.

amazingemmet

If your worried about your emails being read get pgp freeware here alternativley write them in irish. There is things called portal sites which you can log on to then go to differnet sites from them and who ever is blocking them won't see what your browsing, sorry don't know any of them off the top of my head

DublinWriter

amazingemmet wrote:

There is things called portal sites which you can log on to then go to differnet sites from them and who ever is blocking them won't see what your browsing

Yes they will. OP be very careful about using the Internet in the M.E. that uses a state ISP.

NutJob

Get PGP and use a bloddy strong key


Watch your traffic and as for banned sites is itworth the risks???

ghost26ie

http://www.the-cloak.com/anonymous-surfing-home.html

LPT

http://www.thefreecountry.com/security/anonymous.shtml

Gavin

As mentioned in a previous thread.

Install Tor for anonymous web browsing.
Use GPG or PGP for confidential emailing.

Of course, depending on the zealousness of the authorities and her paranoia, she may need to secure the machine that she does the browsing/emailing on. Perhaps use a usb bootable key with XP/Linux on it for a better degree of security.

Make sure the key is digestable in the stomach.

Gav

Baz_

Verb wrote:

Make sure the key is digestable in the stomach.

That comment made me laugh, a nercous laugh though...

Probably is a good idea...

Blub2k4

I'd suggest that she gets herself an account with a non-saudi satellite provider.
Barring that, I'm sure if she knows any US military that they could help her. The local Corps Of US army engineers would be a good place to start. When I lived there in the 80's the Corps of Engineers were exempt from bacon and alcohol bans, one could assume that they will also have a proxy that she may be allowed to use and the saudis wont question it because of it's location.
AWACS (large spy planes) cost a lot of money and the Saudis were told that if their staff were not exempt that they wouldn't get the men to run the expensive planes they had already bought for 8 billion dollars each (or some similar astronomical sum), they had a few of them. Most Americans over there were facilitated by the corps of engineers when they wanted to get their hands on contraband. Tell her to be very careful it appears the saudis are extremely effective in their web filtering.

Hope that helps.

Blub2k4

Hmmm I just noticed that you said a middle Eastern country, I assumed Saudi Arabia, sorry for that.
I still think the suggestions are valid however in so far as they will apply to your friends situation.

ianmc38

Any web proxy like the cloak or proxify.com can get access to sites that are banen by surf control mechansims.

Blub2k4

ianmc38 wrote:

Any web proxy like the cloak or proxify.com can get access to sites that are banen by surf control mechansims.

The Saudis are apparently able to block very effectively according to some articles I read after seeing this topic.

Satellite provider is probably the best option.

Cabaal

PGP is certainly the way to go, also you can get a version of PGP that allows you to create encyrpted virtual drives which is VERY useful if your uber paranoid
Might not be a bad idea in this case.

I 2nd the bootable USB/CD idea, ala knoppix.net

hmmm

Geez, I can't believe the replies to this.

Your friend is a visitor in a country with a *very* strict moral code and which does not share our timid Western sensibilities about punishment and justice - this is a country were being homosexual is punishable by death. Use of encryption or proxy bypass tools is unlikely to lead to merely a friendly chat from the police or a mere slap on the wrist if (when?) detected, and may be severely punishable.

Your friend should respect the culture and laws of the country she has relocated to, if not out respect for the country itself than for her own safety.

Blub2k4

hmmm wrote:

Geez, I can't believe the replies to this.

Your friend is a visitor in a country with a *very* strict moral code and which does not share our timid Western sensibilities about punishment and justice - this is a country were being homosexual is punishable by death. Use of encryption or proxy bypass tools is unlikely to lead to merely a friendly chat from the police or a mere slap on the wrist if (when?) detected, and may be severely punishable.

Your friend should respect the culture and laws of the country she has relocated to, if not out respect for the country itself than for her own safety.

The OP never did get back with a comment and if you read back closely I am the one who sidetracked the discussion to Saudi Arabia, that may not be the country in question, although it certainly would seem so from the original post.

rogue-entity

First, I dont think that *any* country has the right to restrict internet access, but that is just my opinion. The method that I used to bypass filtering systems was SSH Tunneling. You will need an SSH login account for it to work though.

dingding

Can she use a dial up internet account in a third country, expensive but might be worth it.