LOL. Wait until you get to Python one-liners.
That’s adorable that you think Python has anything on Perl for write-only code.
Heh. Oh God, Perl. Yeah. Python one-liners are like reading children books compared to Perl code. ;)
After 20 years working in software development… I’ve seen it all. This is in many ways a “golden age” in the area. And if anyone needs help with anything, I’m not StackOverflow or the such, but I might be able to help. ;)
Ohh, ohh, pick me coach! I know that one.
Sadly, every time you build a better mousetrap, the mice figure out a way around it.
Charlatan you’re making me feel guilty for not keeping my certs up to date or pursuing new ones.
Is the answer using his cell phone as a hot spot?
Cell phone hotspots, VPNs, proxies, proxy bypass (not always possible)… lots of ways, and that’s not even mentioning the more creative ones. ;)
I wouldn’t think some of those (VPNs, Proxy, etc.) would be viable answers because end users shouldn’t be able to change those settings and/or install software like VPN software. Unless VPN software doesn’t require admin access to install? Some software does work like that, so I suppose anything’s possible.
Don’t forget the 'ole sneaker net. That’s where you smuggle old issues of Playboy into the office in your laptop bag.
Want to know one extremely easy way?
Image aggregation sites or search sites. They frequently display using their own format (think of the obsure things IMGUR does on naming) making blocking nearly impossible unless it is the entire site in bulk, which carries other non-intended impact.
Here is an example, NSFW depending on what you search:
http://www.imagoid.com/
Type in your favorite picture/gif subject there, allow adult content, and away you go. Missed by a lot of content filtering solutions because it’s doing the initial connection for you.
Other methods not mentioned by Rhamorim: tunneling (utilizing a different port for your web traffic, or leveraging SSL/TLS to a proxy source, mirroring (leveraging remote control of a source that then does your browsing for you.)
There are proxy’s that pop up fast enough it’s a whack-a-mole game for most content filtering methods.
The cell phone hot spot is the most common, I think. It’s why a lot of companies also install a local firewall-type software like Symantec Endpoint (I think) can block these types of sites. A place I used to work at had this in place to prevent people from going to non-authorized sites when off the parent network.
As I said, there are more creative ways, and those you mentioned are some of them. A combination of tunneling+mirroring (especially over SSL) can be pretty effective and even hard to detect (as long as you don’t use a lot of bandwidth), but it requires technical expertise (and control of a remote server) that most people either don’t have or don’t have access to.
I agree completely, users are a crafty bunch.
Being completely honest, we go with the diversion game, offering a guest solution that we only filter for adult/extreme/dangerous content. We still monitor, but by giving that a place, it pulls away from those who might do something more nefarious, and possibly putting internal systems at risk. It draws a huge percentage of that target user group, and is a trade off for wide open but rogue access that some will do. It also allows us to more easily drill down and (hopefully) find users who go outside of even those allowed rules.
That’s a really good solution, I’d say. It preserves the security of internal systems, minimizes strife, and still provides a good bit of control.
I’m convinced that kind of monitoring is usually the best/less costly option. The feeling of a completely “open” Internet access can also work well as a “honeypot” of sorts (if it is well monitored) to catch the worst and less sophisticated offenders, and is also effective against the most technical-savvy offenders because they’ll be less inclined to use creative solutions if they can go for the easy route.
I guess it diverts people from doing the wrong thing by providing some sort of dangling carrot. Give and take, so to speak.
So I had the technical interview last week on Friday. It went nearly an hour.
I just got an email back today wanting to schedule the full regular interview.
Got two more interviews at different companies in the next two weeks.
Take it from a hiring manager that is very good news. The tech team basically gave you a thumbs up and likely the followup interview is likely a formality to make sure the manager likes you.
Good luck Craig!!
Thanks everyone :)