Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread: Social Media Hosts File

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    127

    Question Social Media Hosts File

    Hey guys. I've been creating and appending a hosts file to block "unproductive" sites from a user for a client of mine. I was wondering if there was a pre-made list available somewhere because I know I am missing things. I need to block sports sites and social media sites. I tried Google but didn't find anything. Maybe my Google-Fu is sub-par. Any suggestions? If there is nothing out there (which I find hard to believe), I will post what I have so far here, and as a community, maybe we can come up with a comprehensive list that we can share with everyone else on the internet with this question. Thanks.
    sandwich.

  2. #2
    Only african to own a PC! Cider's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Israel
    Posts
    1,683
    Hmmm, doing this on a pc by pc basis is not the crrect way imo. I know spybot uses for antimalware and dangerous sites but for unproductive tasks, I dont know tbh. When I was put into this situation I usually used the router / dyndns for it.

    Sorry to be no help, interesting Q though :P
    The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
    Albert Einstein

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    262
    Here is a start. The problem is that a hosts file is difficult to manage, slows performance and is easy to bypass. I never cared for the user by user approach to network management.

    I always used strong personnel policies and traffic log analysis to enforce those policies. Most "surfing" policies were firing offenses after x number of violations. A good set of rules in your bastion host and/or router is also helpful.

  4. #4
    THE Bastard Sys***** dinowuff's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Third planet from the Sun
    Posts
    1,253
    I use OpenDNS on my home network and the smaller clients that want filtering

    Here is a list of default categories you can filter on:
    Academic Fraud
    Adult Themes
    Adware
    Alcohol
    Auctions
    Automotive
    Blogs
    Business Services
    Chat
    Classifieds
    Dating
    Drugs
    Ecommerce/Shopping
    Educational Institutions
    File storage
    Financial institutions
    Forums/Message boards
    Gambling
    Games
    German Youth Protection
    Government
    Hate/Discrimination
    Health
    Humor
    Instant messaging
    Jobs/Employment
    Lingerie/Bikini
    Movies
    Music
    News/Media
    Non-profits
    Nudity
    P2P/File sharing
    Parked Domains
    Photo sharing
    Podcasts
    Politics
    Pornography
    Portals
    Proxy/Anonymizer
    Radio
    Religious
    Research/Reference
    Search engines
    Sexuality
    Social networking
    Software/Technology
    Sports
    Tasteless
    Television
    Tobacco
    Travel
    Video sharing
    Visual search engines
    Weapons
    Webmail

    OpenDNS alog with http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm Works fine on small networks.
    09:F9:11:02:9D:74:E3:5B8:41:56:C5:63:56:88:C0

  5. #5
    Just Another Geek
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Rotterdam, Netherlands
    Posts
    3,401
    Casual Fridays: Are workplace internet restrictions counterproductive?

    Respondents with more internet restrictions at work are significantly LESS likely to check their work messages while away from work. The message employers may be sending employees by restricting access at work is that work and home life don't mix. Employees who aren't allowed personal internet time at work are less likely to use time at home to monitor their workplace communication.
    Oliver's Law:
    Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    262
    In the USA asking non-exempt wage and hour employees to check for workplace communications is a violation of the wage and hour laws if they are not paid for their time.

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    127
    Quote Originally Posted by Cider View Post
    Hmmm, doing this on a pc by pc basis is not the crrect way imo. I know spybot uses for antimalware and dangerous sites but for unproductive tasks, I dont know tbh. When I was put into this situation I usually used the router / dyndns for it.

    Sorry to be no help, interesting Q though :P
    The reason I was using the hosts file was because it is only a single user who needs blocked access.

    Quote Originally Posted by ua549 View Post
    Here is a start. The problem is that a hosts file is difficult to manage, slows performance and is easy to bypass. I never cared for the user by user approach to network management.

    I always used strong personnel policies and traffic log analysis to enforce those policies. Most "surfing" policies were firing offenses after x number of violations. A good set of rules in your bastion host and/or router is also helpful.
    The user is on a domain and has limited access to the system and would not be able to bypass the hosts file directly and isn't skillful enough to work around it otherwise. There is a policy against surfing, but that is just causing people to get fired at a pretty regular rate.

    Quote Originally Posted by dinowuff View Post
    I use OpenDNS on my home network and the smaller clients that want filtering
    I could use the OpenDNS but it would need to block only a single user. Since the machine is on a domain, the server is the main DNS. Is there a way to have a single user running off the OpenDNS in this scenario? I currently have OpenDNS as the secondary DNS. If I set OpenDNS as the primary on that machine and the domain controller as the secondary, would that work?

    Thanks to all for your input.
    sandwich.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    127
    The problem is that the surfing is occurring while there is work to be done. In this case, the user involved does not have to do anything work related outside the office and work emails are only available to him in the office. The decision really comes from the principle of the company, but in all fairness, is a full day of work really too much to ask?
    sandwich.

  9. #9
    Gonzo District BOFH westin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    SW MO
    Posts
    1,187
    Even if it is just one employee, you could still block it for the entire office... or are there some 'special' employees that are allowed access to those sites?

    We used to use a free appliance called 'Untangle' for web filtering... though it is extremely easy to bypass. We have since moved to a more robust solution. Though, Untangle might suit your needs. It allows blocking based on category, and one of the categories is of course, 'social networking'.
    \"Those of us that had been up all night were in no mood for coffee and donuts, we wanted strong drink.\"

    -HST

  10. #10
    Just Another Geek
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Rotterdam, Netherlands
    Posts
    3,401
    Quote Originally Posted by CyberB0b View Post
    but in all fairness, is a full day of work really too much to ask?
    See if you can concentrate for 8 hours straight. I know I can't.

    As long as the work gets done me and my boss don't have a problem with it.
    Oliver's Law:
    Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Similar Threads

  1. Windows Error Messages
    By cheyenne1212 in forum Miscellaneous Security Discussions
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: February 1st, 2012, 02:51 PM
  2. Forensic Process and Tricks
    By Tiger Shark in forum The Security Tutorials Forum
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: January 12th, 2007, 10:44 PM
  3. Server Messed Up again by VIRUS
    By FanacooL in forum AntiVirus Discussions
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: July 5th, 2005, 01:35 PM
  4. Securing Your Windows PC
    By E5C4P3 in forum The Security Tutorials Forum
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: June 12th, 2002, 04:54 PM
  5. Media file Issue
    By Ratman2 in forum Microsoft Security Discussions
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: March 5th, 2002, 08:17 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •