IT managers remain concerned about anonymous proxies

Anonymous proxies remain a major security concern for IT managers, according to research.

The results of Bloxx's 2009 independent Anonymous Proxy Survey Bloxx indicate that an alarming 90 per cent of IT managers in the educational sector consider anonymous proxies a problem, compared with 51 per cent in the private sector.

The study claimed that anonymous proxies are the easiest and most popular way for users to bypass an organisation's internet filtering, as once a user is connected to an anonymous proxy, they can surf any website completely unmonitored.

The survey reveals that 64 per cent of IT managers in the education sector view anonymous proxies as a security threat and 34 per cent consider them to be a serious problem. Whilst this figure is slightly less for IT teams in the private sector - at 46 per cent – 12 per cent of the respondents remain unsure, indicating a possible lack of knowledge concerning the use of anonymous proxies in this sector.

Eamonn Doyle, CEO of Bloxx, said: “The volume and easy availability of anonymous proxy sites has increased dramatically over the past few years and many hundreds are now created each week.

“More and more people, particularly students, are using them as a means to surf the internet free from the restrictions of internet filtering, oblivious to the security risks associated with this.

“Furthermore, blocking them using traditional web filters - which rely heavily on URL lists - is simply no longer effective. Worryingly, our survey suggests that the proxy problem has not improved on last year, particularly in the private sector.”

See original article on scmagazineuk.com