Websense is a software application that is designed to prevent access to web sites with material that is deemed inappropriate or in some manner not related to the purposes of the owner of the computer system or network. Businesses often make use of Websense or a similar product in order to prevent employees from wasting company time viewing web sites that are not related to the work tasks. Of course, the blocking of some web sites can also slow down the efficiency of an employee as well. Because Websense functions in part by checking for banned keywords, it is possible to block a site that in fact would be of use in carrying out a job related task. When this is the case, there are a couple of alternatives. Use a Web Proxy Perhaps the quickest way to circumvent the use of Websense is by making use of a proxy site to conduct searches and browsing activity.

Essentially, Websense is reading the proxy site info and not the information of the web site you are actually browsing. This approach will not take much more time than going through your usual broswer, and will save you a lot of frustration. There are several excellent web proxy sites that you can use.

Essentially, what allows a proxy site to circumvent Websense is the way that the site looks up web pages. By conducting what is called an HTTPS search, the proxy site is accessing through a secure server. Websense does not tend to block secure sites. Try HTTP Tunneling Another way to get around Websense is to simply tunnel through the program. There are several software packages on the market today that will do just that.

A number of these program will also help you wipe the history of your activities, if that is something you desire. This feature essentially allows you to spoof your own Internet browsing activity, that is make it appear you were doing something other than what you were doing. Many of these tunneling software programs can be purchased and downloaded with ease, and can appear to be completely innocuous. The purchase price is reasonable in most cases, and will help keep things around the office a little more sedate.

Tom Paine writes for The Tech FAQ and is the author of articles such as Bypass Websense, Websense, and Unlock MySpace.