Re: webwasher and xfree

[Harold L Hunt II <huntharo at msu dot edu>]

Benny,

Benjamin Riefenstahl wrote:
> Hi Harold, Kai,
>
> Harold L Hunt II <huntharo@msu.edu> writes:
>
> > Now, here is a tip about how programs like webwasher work: they
> > intercept *every* TCP/IP packet on your system, usually by replacing
> > the Windows network layer with their own code.
>
>
> Actually in principle Webwasher doesn't do that.  At least the version
> that I am using here (free-as-in-beer, non-commercial license) is just
> an application level local proxy for the HTTP and HTTPS protocols.
> It's not a VPN, but just a regular application.  The only mischief it
> does is to re-configure IE's proxy configuration.

Unfortunately, we can never know for sure since Webwasher isn't open 
source.  They may not be replacing DLLs, but they may also not be acting 
strictly as a standard server application.  That is, they may be trying 
to hook into calls into the winsock layer rather than opening port 8080 
and waiting for connects.  There are many ways that web filtering could 
be implemented, and I suspect from Kai's information that they chose a 
poor way of implementing it (from a performance standpoint).

> I should note that I do not use dial-up though, so there may be some
> interaction between WebWasher and the IP stack in that area.

Yes, they have many versions available and Kai did not say which version 
he was using.

Harold