Confessions of a Linux User

I've never understood this one, but I've felt bad for it for a while now, so I'm going to come clean.... At my last employer they had a very strict network/internet traffic policy, like everything was locked down.  I had a few issues with this because using Windows and Chrome it didn't just block the at the DNS or URL returned level, but it actively broke open HTTPS packets and inspected their contents.

YEAH I KNOW RIGHT?

This was meant to be secure, but it clearly wasn't and I asked about what was opening these packets and inspecting the contents and bless 'em the IT department said it's not... It clearly was.

Because, slip over to a none-Microsoft operating system, even one running in a VM on the self same windows host and it could get out to the internet and retrieve whatever it liked.  So it wasn't just blocking the URL it was inspecting the actual traffic, the actual supposedly secure traffic wasn't secure.

I'm pretty sure this would have proven illegal; just like Scunthorpe Council was found reading its employee's email.

Either way it wasn't that they were doing this that actually bothered me, it was that when asked they said they weren't.  Which meant one of two things, either a) they were and were lying or b) something else was and they didn't know.  I believe it was a case of option A.

For you see besides watching copious amounts of YouTube and listening to even more music, which no-one else could I saw the darker side of this power I had through Linux.

You see the packets were being broken over to inspect their contents because IT wanted to filter certain search terms or words, you know like porn or weapons, nasties.  HTTPS connections can't be inspected (at least between your browser and the receiving/signed server they shouldn't be) so the software on the Microsoft pipe, or Windows itself, was compromised in my point of view.

That's not to say I was looking for tits, but I could have if I wanted to.... Tux!