How to Block Proxy Websites

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Learn how to prevent your students or employees from visiting proxy websites on Windows and macOS
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Proxy web sites are commonly used to access blocked web sites or to browse the Internet anonymously for various security reasons. Unfortunately, these websites can attract potential security threats, such as viruses, that can travel through an unprotected network. You can easily counter proxies by upgrading your security features and blocking any related websites.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Using Windows 10

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  1. On the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, click the icon that looks like a folder. This folder is known as the “File Explorer”. File Explorer is a folder that shows your most frequently visited folders and most recent files. After clicking File Explorer, a new window will open on your screen. In the left sidebar, there is a list of destinations available on your computer.
  2. This PC is designed to easily access user related folders (such as My Documents), currently connected devices, and your computer's storage device, most commonly a hard drive or a solid-state drive.
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  3. )". Located under Devices and drives, this drive allows access to your computer's data and system folders.
    • Scroll down to the bottom.
    • Double-click the folder named “Windows”.
  5. System32 is a folder that contains important data to keep Windows and all programs running.
  6. The drivers folder delves deeper into your computer's hard drive, allowing access to data to various programs.
  7. The etc folder keeps your system's configuration files in one neat spot. Double-click this folder to open it.
  8. In order to create your blacklist, you will need to edit the hosts file with the URLs of the sites you want blocked.
    • Right click “hosts”.
    • In the menu that opens, click “Open With…” (or “Open with another program”).
    • A new menu called “How do you want to open this file?” will open.
    • Select “Notepad”.
  9. At the bottom of the file, you’ll have space to type in.
    • If there isn't any space to type by default, click at the end your document and hit your Enter button two or three times to create space.
  10. 127.0.0.1 refers to your computer's local IP address. Any website that tries to connect to your computer will access partially through this localhost.
    • Alternatively, you can type a single space instead of pressing Tab.
  11. For example, if you want to block Yahoo!, type www.yahoo.com.
    • Entering variants of the websites will help ensure that they're blocked, like yahoo.com or m.yahoo.com
  12. Saving your file will allow the new block to take effect. To save your file:
    • Click “File”.
    • In the dropdown menu, click “Save”.
  13. You'll want to make sure the URLs you entered are actually blocked.
    • Open a browser of your choice.
    • In the URL box, type the website that you've blocked in your hosts file. Type them exactly as you've entered them in the original file.
  14. If your website is successfully blocked, you'll see an Unable to Connect page.
    • If you're still able to access the website, either copy from the browser and paste it into your hosts file.
    • Be sure to save the hosts file after making any changes.
    • If there is web server software running on your computer, you may connect to your local web server rather than seeing a "refused to connect" page.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

Using Mac

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  1. Finder allows you to access your user files and will open to the Documents folder by default.
  2. Click Applications in the left sidebar and scroll down to access the Utilities folder, which contains important system based applications, such as Keychain Access and Disk Utility.
  3. Terminal is an application that runs using the command line, similar to DOS.
    • In the blank window that appears, type sudo nano /etc/hosts
    • Press Enter.
  5. You'll be prompted to enter your administrator password, which is what you use to access your computer. Type it in and then press Enter.
    • Open the hosts file. After pressing enter, a new window will open for you to edit. The hosts file is used to dictate how different web sites connect to your computer and save data.
  6. There will already be text within your host file. Do not delete or change this text. Underneath the text, there should be space for you to type.
    • If there isn't already any space, click your mouse at the end of the last line of text and press Enter to create a new line to write on.
  7. 127.0.0.1 is your computer's local IP address. This is what web sites use to access your computer's files and save data.
  8. For example, if you wish to block Bing, type in www.bing.com.
    • Typing in variations of websites will help ensure that they're blocked, like bing.com or m.bing.com
  9. Since the hosts file opens in a special window, you'll be unable to save normally.
    • If, when you save, your file name ends with “-original”, delete that ending.
  10. You can also click Save to exit.
  11. Click the red circle in the top left corner of the window to close out of the text editor and return to the Terminal's interface.
  12. While the Terminal window is still open, type the new command into the new command line.
  13. This will commit the changes to your computer and also formally close the special text editor.
  14. Test the websites you've blocked. If successful, your computer will be unable to connect to the website.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Using the Control Panel

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    • Open the Start Menu at the bottom of your screen.
    • Click on the Control Panel shortcut.
    • In Windows 10, type Control Panel in the Start Menu's Search bar.
  2. Once the Control Panel folder has opened, double click on Internet Options. A new dialog box will open on the screen.
    • In Windows 10, you can type “Internet Options” in the search bar in the upper right corner of the Control Panel window.
  3. Within the new dialog box, click on the tab labeled “Contents”.
  4. The Content Advisor will help users regulate acceptable content depending on ratings, content, and exclusion.
    • Scroll through the categories under “Select a category to view ratings”.
    • There's a slider that allows you to set the acceptable level each category is blocked. A slider set to the far left will allow all content related to a category while a slider set to the far right will not allow any related content.
  5. If this is your first time enabling the Content Advisor, you will be prompted to create a password to access or change this tab in the future.
    • Re-enter the password to confirm.
    • Click Apply.
    • If you've already used Content Advisor, re-enter the password you created the first time.
    • Enter and re-enter the password you wish to enable the content advisor.
  6. In this tab, you can create a list of websites you wish to access despite their content.
    • Click Settings.
    • Enter security password.
    • Click on the Approved Sites tab.
  7. Once you've configured your settings as you wish, click OK to save changes and close out of the dialog box. Once you are done with adding the websites to block, click OK to close the dialog box.
  8. Click OK once again to exit out of the Internet Options window.
  9. Once you're done, you can browse different websites to make sure the categories you've regulated are blocked appropriately.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Chrome

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  1. Extensions help Chrome do additional tasks that it might not be able to do otherwise. Block Site is an extension that, well, blocks websites.
    • Click on + Add to Chrome in the upper right corner of the pop up module.
    • A dialogue box will appear saying “Add Block Site?”.
    • Click “Add extension”.
    • Extension will appear in the download bar at the bottom of the screen.
    • Once extension has been downloaded, there will be a dialog box saying Block Site has been added to Chrome.
  2. You can manually block individual websites.
    • Right click anywhere on the web site.
    • In the dropdown menu, hover over “Block site”.
    • Click “Add current site to blacklist” in the secondary menu.
    • Right click anywhere on your browser window.
    • In the dropdown menu, hover over “Block site”.
    • Click “Options” in the secondary menu.
    • Chrome will open a new tab with settings for the Block Site extension.
    • In the left sidebar, click “Block words”.
    • Toggle “Custom list” to on.
    • In the text box, type in the word you wish to block.
    • Click the “Add word” button next to the text box.
  4. While in Chrome, try to access website using the URL or keywords you've blocked.
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      Tips

      • Blocking URL keywords or phrases can often be more effective than blocking the proxy site itself.
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      • Sometimes, network safe website can be blocked accidentally because of their shared keywords. Keep an eye out for these sites and be sure to unblock them.
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      • Be careful when deleting proxy blocking apps. Your mobile device's proxy settings will return to default once these apps are gone.
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      Warnings

      • Always setup your security software according to administration standards and ensure the software has been up correctly.
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      • While blocking proxy sites is half the battle of many network intrusions, practicing good network security habits is essential to counteract security breaches or alerts. Constant vigilance and a knowledgeable administrator are keys to a solid network.
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      • Proxies are not the only way to circumvent network filters, but they are the most common.
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