Despite ban users find ways to access porn

Proxy sites transmit unencrypted info, warn experts

Website bans just don’t work. It’s near impossible to stop Indians from consuming online content.

After online porn was banned, users began using proxy sites. Some telecom providers then banned VPN and proxy sites, but even that did not stop people from accessing the banned content.

Despite regulatory or censorship laws, technology today is able to find away to bypass these rules.

Telecom companies use a master list to block websites. But this kind of blocking is easy to bypass, just what most Indian users are doing.

Some of the websites even created mirror sites. Pornhub.com created pornhub.net the day India banned the website. Experts feel that irrespective of the ban, people find a way out, by using Opera or UC browser or other proxy VPNs. The bottom line is complete censorship on certain content is easier said than done.

“Complete censorship or banning websites is not possible in our democratic country,” said Mr Sridhar Nallamothu of Computer Era magazine. “Consider China where everything was banned. It only increased usage of VPN. Initially they didn’t have restrictions on VPN, but then they started using the Great firewall of China. All content from outside the world is monitored. In our country, we can name websites to be banned, but VPN or proxies cannot be banned. So, people can easily access online content through these proxies,” said the expert.

Experts also noted that censorship increases the risk of malware, as users will access content on sites or apps that are prone viruses.

Proxy services swarm the internet, giving users access to blocked websites or censored content. Proxy servers redirect the user’s web browsing activity by going online under a different IP address and providing anonymity.

“Thanks to increasing control over online content by regulatory bodies, proxy usage has been on the rise,” said another expert with a leading international security firm.

“However, these free services expose users to security vulnerabilities such as phishing, virus attacks and identity thefts. While some proxy servers do come with SSL certification to encrypt internet traffic, they are not always successful. Considering that most proxy websites are run by volunteers, they often do not use HTTPS and their activities are exposed to server owners.”

But experts warn that proxy sites also transmit unencrypted information. “As there is continuous data flow through a proxy, information is often transmitted without encryption. The users’ information – such as login credentials or bank details among others – are thus open to interception by hackers. There is a possibility of identity theft for those who use proxy services on the internet.”