False 404 Redirects

bubba · December 25, 2008

I have begun to see a lot of the following:

<html>

</head>

<body>

404 error

: File not found

The

URL

you requested was not found

</body>

</html>

I'm seeing the exact same 404 page, formatted in the same non-standard way, coming from a range of sites. I'm not talking about just pr0n sites or anything that could be considered remotely political. I just got one from the a licensed software support forum. On connecting to our company's VPN, I can load them normally. Turn off the VPN, and I get the same 404 page.

These are most definitely false 404 pages, probably directed by the ISP (I'm using CSLOXINFO), or perhaps that grand national firewall we have been hearing about. Is anyone else seeing this?

webfact · December 26, 2008

I have begun to see a lot of the following:
<html>

</head>

<body>

404 error 

 : File not found 

 The

 URL

 you requested was not found 

</body>

</html>

I'm seeing the exact same 404 page, formatted in the same non-standard way, coming from a range of sites. I'm not talking about just pr0n sites or anything that could be considered remotely political. I just got one from the a licensed software support forum. On connecting to our company's VPN, I can load them normally. Turn off the VPN, and I get the same 404 page.

These are most definitely false 404 pages, probably directed by the ISP (I'm using CSLOXINFO), or perhaps that grand national firewall we have been hearing about. Is anyone else seeing this?

I can confirm I got the same page displayed on my screen - same provider as mentioned above

bubba · December 26, 2008

I can confirm I got the same page displayed on my screen - same provider as mentioned above

Without...err...asking you to identify the site where you have seen it- Was it a site that you might have expected to have been blocked in Thailand? Or was it just some random site? I've gotten it from both "expected" sites and from completely non-expected sites (such as a licensed software support forum.) In every case, the 404 page is repeatable on reloading. Connect to VPN or a proxy, and the page loads normally. Disconnect the VPN or proxy, and you get the 404 page (an unusual one with a big blue "404").

There are definitely false redirects going on here, and it's coming from either the ISP or inside Thailand. The concept of redirecting to a false 404 page is intentionally misleading, so it appears that is there is some sort of ISP or national firewall blocking going on, they are trying to hide it. I have not personally seen anything like this in a long time.

webfact · December 26, 2008

I can confirm I got the same page displayed on my screen - same provider as mentioned above

Without...err...asking you to identify the site where you have seen it- Was it a site that you might have expected to have been blocked in Thailand? Or was it just some random site? I've gotten it from both "expected" sites and from completely non-expected sites (such as a licensed software support forum.) In every case, the 404 page is repeatable on reloading. Connect to VPN or a proxy, and the page loads normally. Disconnect the VPN or proxy, and you get the 404 page (an unusual one with a big blue "404").

There are definitely false redirects going on here, and it's coming from either the ISP or inside Thailand. The concept of redirecting to a false 404 page is intentionally misleading, so it appears that is there is some sort of ISP or national firewall blocking going on, they are trying to hide it. I have not personally seen anything like this in a long time.

Difficult to answer that question because it happened a while ago, but without any guarantee that it is true what I remember, it was an Adobe support forum.

bubba · December 29, 2008

In my case, it was the Roxio support forum. I'm wondering whether they are haphazardly blocking forum sites.

In an article in the Bangkok Post today, it looks like the new ICT minister will be putting some renewed effort into blocking web sites:

New ICT minister vows to curb rogue websites

By: KOMSAN TORTERMVASANA

Published: 29/12/2008 at 12:00 AM

The new Information and Communications Technology (ICT) minister has vowed to make it a priority to block websites insulting the monarchy.

Ranongrak Suwanchawee told senior ICT officials that most of the websites originated outside the country and would be blocked, as would sites considered obscene and those offering online games and gambling.

She said her predecessor in the post mistakenly believed that little could be done to control sites originating overseas.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/econom...-rogue-websites

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