Experts' Expert: How to visit the Web sites your company blocks

I'm always happy to put up tips of this genre since so many people report they can't see bookofjoe from where they happen to be — whether it be in China or a corporate equivalent elsewhere.

The subject was #3 of "Ten Things Your IT Department Won't Tell You," Vauhini Vara's most informative July 30, 2007 Wall Street Journal article; the helpful guide to crossing the firewall follows.

How to visit the Web sites your company blocks

The Problem: Companies often block employees from visiting certain sites — ranging from the really nefarious (porn) to probably bad (gambling) to mostly innocuous (Web-based email services).

The Trick: Even if your company won't let you visit those sites by typing their Web addresses into your browser, you can still sometimes sneak your way onto them. You travel to a third-party site, called a proxy, and type the Web address you want into a search box. Then the proxy site travels to the site you want and displays it for you — so you can see the site without actually visiting it. Proxy.org18, for one, features a list of more than 4,000 proxies.

Another way to accomplish the same thing, from Mark Frauenfelder and Gina Trapani: Use Google's translation service, asking it to do an English-to-English translation. Just enter this — Google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=www.blockedsite.com — replacing "blockedsite.com" with the Web address of the site you want to visit. Google effectively acts as a proxy, calling up the site for you.

The Risk: If you use a proxy to, say, catch up on email or watch a YouTube video, the main risk is getting caught by your boss. But there are scarier security risks: Online bad guys sometimes buy Web addresses that are misspellings of popular sites, then use them to infect visitors' computers. Companies often block those sites, too — but you won't be protected from them if you use a proxy.

How to Stay Safe: Don't make a habit of using proxies for all your Web surfing. Use them only to visit specific sites that your company blocks for productivity-related reasons — say, YouTube. And watch your spelling.