I am currently going to university and I am wanting to maintain my privacy and i'm having a difficult time wrestling with my vpn and their safe connect software that they require windows users to install to connect to the internet. I have private internet access VPN service however I still have to install the safe connect software to get any kind of internet connectivity. My main concern is that this software dictates what programs can be installed on MY computer and forces updates. You can manually add a gaming console to the network by giving the networking department your mac address so I was thinking that I could route all of my desktop traffic through a linux box giving them the linx machine's mac address, hiding my windows PC's mac address so that they will not force the safe connect software on my machine. My only other concern is that my packets will still be able to be seen even through a linux machine. I was just wondering if there are any tips you could give me to help my situation. Thanks.
If you're using the VPN, your packets won't be seen.
That's weird for a uni to monitor students so excessively. Normally they don't monitor their student's internet activity like that, or they just require you to login with your uni username, so they can tie what you do to you.
uhh... find a different uni. if they're so controlling with their dorm network, what else are they bad with...
but, basically, sounds liek they've got it ultra-locked-down.
Yea they claim they don't monitor your packets but people have been caught for torrenting and they wont allow you to have any kind of torrenting software. Im not torrenting but I don't want software like that on my machine.
Basically Im moving out after first year and I have a school laptop that I dont really care about havint that software on since I only type papers and lookup textbooks on It. Im just trying to make it to where I do not have to install the software on my windows desktop and I can use a vpn to protect my traffic.
you basically can't. the software precludes it.your school is a dick.
What's the software called?
safeconnect, Im thinking that by using a linux machine to route my desktop traffic through it I can hide my window pc's mac address. Im an engineering major but technology is a hobby so I could be very wrong.
safe connect
it's a group policy type software. also, spyware. it's the idiots answer to network security
http://its.ucsc.edu/resnet/safeconnect/index.html
Higher Education
Block domains that the software sends it's info to and updates from, using the host file?
yea i think im screwed, everything I try i get kicked of the internet
then the software won't let him connect. it's pretty devious...
yea tell me about It. If I find a solution I will post it.
You could try installing that software on a Windows box you don't care about, then having all your traffic route through there, just using a VPN. I imagine if they pay enough attention they could figure out you were using a VPN though, and from what their IT department sounds like, they'd probably pitch a huge fit about that. Try telling them you have a game console with the MAC of your PC or something, or make up a MAC address/snag one from a PC that's somewhere else, and tell them that's a game console. Then just have Windows spoof it.
I'd be careful though, they might really pitch a fit if they found out you were doing this.
Try disconnecting from the network, starting wireshark, and capturing packets through the whole connection process. Maybe there's some way some people could get together and help you write some magical software to "fake it" and pretend? Even if it's some super hard thing to fake, a packet capture would help you see more what you're up against here.
Instead of using a Linux PC you could just get a router and give them the MAC address of the WAN interface, using the NAT firewall it will appear as if all traffic is coming from that address. But if they know what they're doing they will be able to tell the the MAC address doesn't belong to a console so it may be worth using a router which you can flash with dd-wrt or something like that and spoof the address of an actual console.
Of course you could probably just do that on your windows pc anyway if that's the only device you want to connect.
That won't get you past stuff which is blocked by the firewall so if they're blocking VPN server IP addresses or the ports they use then you still won't be able to use the VPN.