The notion that others can restrict what they can and cannot view on the internet may be unsettling, particularly if their censorship is motivated by their political philosophy or convictions. Internet filtering occurs everywhere, not only in nations with repressive political regimes. For instance, much online content is blocked in the workplace and in schools for restricting employee and student access. While there are certain advantages to censorship, such as keeping people safe and productive, internet restriction may be vexing and in some instances just unfair. Fortunately, there are methods to circumvent internet restrictions and get access to the information you want. Here are four methods for circumventing internet filtering that you should be aware of.
Proxy
The most frequent method of censoring internet content is IP blocking. To restrict access, all that is required is to block the target site’s IP address. However, this may result in the blocking of many websites that share the same IP address. All that is required to circumvent this kind of internet filtering is a proxy with access to the banned IP address. There are many free proxy servers available online.
USB’s
You can operate a search engine such as Firefox entirely from a USB stick by simply downloading it to a storage device. Utilizing a USB to search the web enables you to get the content you want without having to alter any of your proxy or computer settings. Using a USB drive to visit a website has certain benefits over using a proxy server since the USB will allow plugins.
VPN
Numerous institutions and businesses use content filters and control software to prevent unauthorized access to information. Instead of verifying the domain name, URL filtering scans URLs for certain keywords. There are two primary methods for evading URL filtering. If you are technically skilled, you can circumvent URL restrictions by using escape characters. On the other hand, VPNs and other encrypted protocols are simpler techniques that anybody can use. VPNs encrypt data, preventing the filter from reading the URL. This enables you to visit any website you want.
HTTPS
Man in the middle (MITM) attacks are a kind of internet censorship that includes impersonation and interception. Although MITM is not widely employed in schools or businesses, it has been used in repressive regimes such as those in China and North Korea. There are methods to circumvent MITM attacks, and the most effective one is to use encrypted network connections, such as those provided by VPNs and HTTPS. HTTPS takes advantage of the browser’s SSL to encrypt your network communication. Additionally, HTTPS will give you a website warning if it believes the website is insecure or if there is a possibility of an MITM attack.