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Enabling SSL Certificate-Based Filtering
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The Optinet Digital Certificate
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Installing The Optinet Digital Certificate
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Enabling Full SSL Content Filtering
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Confirming The Optinet Digital Certificate
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Reporting on HTTPS/SSL Web Sites
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Viewing Sensitive Content on HTTPS/SSL Web Sites
Certificate Authorities
For Web sites to use SSL to post secure data, they employ a digital certificate signed by
Certificate Authorities (CA), like VeriSign or Thawte. A CA issues and signs a digital
certificate which confirms the identity of the Web site and that the page is secure. The CA
also attests that the certificate belongs to the organization, server, or other entity noted in
the certificate. How do users know if a web site is secure?—through the digital certificate
presented on the web site.
Normally, web browsers have a list of trustworthy CAs. When users connect to a secure
web site, the web browser will check the name of the web site with the corresponding
certificate. If the certificate name matches the name of the web site, is not expired, and is
signed by a trusted CA, the web browser will display the web site. If any of these checks
fail, a warning is displayed indicating the error. Thus web sites and users depend on digital
certificates to confirm identities and information.
SSL Anonymous Proxies
In addition to using SSL for securing web traffic, SSL can also be used to conceal web
traffic. The purpose of the Optinet HTTPS/SSL Filtering is to prohibit users from concealing
their web traffic and from viewing unauthorized content. One of the ways users can conceal
web traffic with SSL is by using SSL Anonymous Proxies.
SSL Anonymous Proxies, available to anyone with Internet access, instruct users on how to
direct their web traffic to a specific web site or service. Like traditional anonymous proxies,
they allow a user to put in a URL, which the proxy then fetches and returns to the user.
From a web filter’s perspective, it is as if all the content was from the proxy site. An SSL
Anonymous Proxy takes this one step further by encrypting this data, thereby concealing
the user’s traffic and visiting prohibited web sites. The most common tactics of SSL
Anonymous Proxy Servers is using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) web sites that create
tunnels to web sites.
However, there are many forms of proxy servers that are designed to make web surfing
anonymous and bypass content filtering. Below are listed the most common Anonymous
Proxy Services and how they conceal web traffic.