4 ms·

Is the USGS too small to require firewalls that block obviously NSFW websites? At my workplace, going to such sites bring up a page saying the request was block

Is the USGS too small to require firewalls that block obviously NSFW websites? At my workplace, going to such sites bring up a page saying the request was blocked before it left the corporate network.

badrabbit 8y ago
No,you can even do that for your house. Porn is not hard to block.
- yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
  It is not hard to block in the trivial case; after that you're playing cat & mouse and dealing with false positives.
  - fapjacks 8y ago
    Ah, the long tail tautology. Everything is easy in the trivial case.
  - badrabbit 8y ago
    Not in the trivial case. I meant most porn sites. All you have to do is use a reputation service and block uncategorized sites. Cisco OpenDNS actually offers a free DNS resolver that filters out most porn sites. Also,surprised at the amount of responses on HN today that presume details....
    - yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
      > use a reputation service and block uncategorized sites This is what I was thinking of when I said "dealing with false positives"; those services make mistakes, and haven't hit every site.
      - badrabbit 8y ago
        I don't think anyone aims for perfection but a 90%+ true blocks and less than 5% false would be a high standard.
LeftTurnSignal 8y ago
Theres not really any place "too small" for systems like that that I can imagine anyway. we only have 15 people here and we implement filters like that. or in a rough pinch, use one of those free external DNS servers (opendns maybe?) that already have porn filtered out. The other side Ive seen is "we're all adults, we don't need any filters here" coming from the higher ups. from my experiences, that usually means someone with significant say wants to look at that shit, or more rarely, feels that filters aren't a good use of ITs time. just CYA on everything in those situations because it usually will end with fingers pointed at IT
fjsolwmv 8y ago
The problem is malware, not the porn.
protomyth 8y ago
USGS is fairly big since they ended up with all the BIE (Bureau of Indian Education) lines. I get the feeling the person who did this doesn't have a problem getting around the firewall / web proxy since they control the thing.

badrabbit 8y ago

No,you can even do that for your house. Porn is not hard to block.

yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
It is not hard to block in the trivial case; after that you're playing cat & mouse and dealing with false positives.
- fapjacks 8y ago
  Ah, the long tail tautology. Everything is easy in the trivial case.
- badrabbit 8y ago
  Not in the trivial case. I meant most porn sites. All you have to do is use a reputation service and block uncategorized sites. Cisco OpenDNS actually offers a free DNS resolver that filters out most porn sites. Also,surprised at the amount of responses on HN today that presume details....
  - yjftsjthsd-h 8y ago
    > use a reputation service and block uncategorized sites This is what I was thinking of when I said "dealing with false positives"; those services make mistakes, and haven't hit every site.
    - badrabbit 8y ago
      I don't think anyone aims for perfection but a 90%+ true blocks and less than 5% false would be a high standard.

LeftTurnSignal 8y ago

Theres not really any place "too small" for systems like that that I can imagine anyway. we only have 15 people here and we implement filters like that. or in a rough pinch, use one of those free external DNS servers (opendns maybe?) that already have porn filtered out. The other side Ive seen is "we're all adults, we don't need any filters here" coming from the higher ups. from my experiences, that usually means someone with significant say wants to look at that shit, or more rarely, feels that filters aren't a good use of ITs time. just CYA on everything in those situations because it usually will end with fingers pointed at IT

fjsolwmv 8y ago

The problem is malware, not the porn.

protomyth 8y ago

USGS is fairly big since they ended up with all the BIE (Bureau of Indian Education) lines. I get the feeling the person who did this doesn't have a problem getting around the firewall / web proxy since they control the thing.