So the issue is, internet access from work is available, but some sites are blocked randomly. I am not into the facebook,myspace,youtube or social sites.
But I do need access to some gaming/hardware reviews and so on.
Most of these sites have downloads and that makes them a big nono at work.

So my question: Is there any way I could setup a proxy on my home nix, so that I could log on to a local webpage (dont what anyone using my system freely) and from there on browse the internet without restrictions?

Something similar like proxy.org but on my local system,

check out squid

It is possible to create an SSH tunnel through a firewall and run other software through it (proxies, browsers, etc.). Make sure you first check with the system administrators at work though - it may be something they'll have a real issue with.

thanks for the replies guys.
I thought of using squid, I just have not used it enough.
My question is, do i have to setup squid as my proxy in the browser?
Or can I setup the proxy so I would have to log on and navigate within a frame?

Well you aren't so much setting squid as your proxy in your browser as you are setting your home computer that is running squid as the proxy in your browser. So once you have configured squid at home, and made sure you can tunnel ssh to your home box, you should be pretty well off, barring some configuration issues with squid.

How far along are you in the process?

I have not even installed squid on my ubuntu 7.10 yet.

I have a dual boot system, with xp for games.

well you'll only be able to run squid when your linux box is booted up...But I do think there is a squid or something like it for XP...

Just a warning: If sites are blocked by your employer by intent and you circumvent these restrictions you may get serious problems with your employer if they detect your circumventions ...

You can use Squid at home, and is better use the port 443, because it have a almost non posibility to be blocked by the administrator

Squid seems like too much work for such a task. Try this:

ssh -NCqD 3128 <your_ip>

This will open a compressed SSH connection to <your_ip> (ie, 1.2.3.4) and make SSH act as a local SOCKS server, binding to port 3128. You won't see any output as the session is open in "quiet mode" '-q'.

I assume you're using Firefox as a browser (if not, you should). Go into its Advanced Preferences and click on Network > Settings (Configure How Firefox Connects To The Internet). You want the following configuration:

* Manual proxy configuration

HTTP Proxy: (blank) Port: 0
SSL Proxy: (blank) Port: 0
FTP Proxy: (blank) Port: 0
Gopher Proxy: (blank) Port: 0

SOCKS Host: 127.0.0.1 Port: 3128

* SOCKS v5
No Proxy For: localhost, 127.0.0.1


That should do it for you. I've only tested this using the OpenSSH clients. I'm not exactly how to do this with PuTTY, although this should help.

It does work with putty as well. On the Connection/SSH/Tunnels tab select a source port, click the Dynamic radio button and click the Add button.

To the OP though, please get your system admins permission before doing this (I know this has been mentioned several times, but it's a sackable offense here so I'm cautious about it).