I've consulted for a big bank which blocks most file sharing sites and also blocks you from attaching scripts, server logs, etc to emails.
Luckily, S3 is not blocked. I set up a bucket and have them upload to the bucket, which I then download on my own computer. Mission accomplished.
Just getting free Windows applications procured and installed on the company laptop takes several layers of approval, emails back and forth, etc. Also the lovely forced password resets every 2 months.
This is true for the banks I've worked with/at. Security systems actively block you from the tools you need to do your job, let alone get the job done in an efficient manner.
I work for a local government department. Must try your S3 workaround.
I swear sometime I think our IS dept are playing jenga, they just pull random services at will.
Today I couldn't update our website because the proxy settings allowing me access the login page somehow changed without notice. Last week they blocked USB access to machines without telling anyone who backs up to external 8tb drives. Tomorrow who knows what they'll decide.
And it doesn't make for a secure environment! Everybody tries to figure out workarounds. Staff actively try to undermine security policies. It's a total disaster.
You can switch it to any port you want. Problem is that it's super easy to spot on security monitoring tools. I deal with "SSH not on port 22" alerts at least once a month.
It's possible to get around this by tunneling SSH over other protocols: http://dag.wiee.rs/howto/ssh-http-tunneling/. Bear in mind if you do this in a corporate environment, security will throw the largest book they can find at you.
I used to work at a place like that, it was incredibly frustrating and time-consuming. So I came up with a solution that works even if S3 is blocked: I built https://github.com/OkGoDoIt/UploadAndPaste and set up SCP file hosting on my own server that listens on port 443. (They blocked most outgoing connections to non-standard ports and did MITM sniffing on any port 80 traffic, so this was the only way to get through.) Then I could just easily "paste" a file to a my remote server and download on the other machine via a url.
Be careful. I work for such a bank, and even secure traffic is MITM’d when possible. There are data loss controls in place to analyze outbound traffic for things like source code.
Just because you’ve circumvented IT’s blocks doesn’t mean you won’t land yourself in hot water.
Luckily, S3 is not blocked. I set up a bucket and have them upload to the bucket, which I then download on my own computer. Mission accomplished.
Just getting free Windows applications procured and installed on the company laptop takes several layers of approval, emails back and forth, etc. Also the lovely forced password resets every 2 months.
This is true for the banks I've worked with/at. Security systems actively block you from the tools you need to do your job, let alone get the job done in an efficient manner.