The Tor Project has announced that the next stable version of the Tor browser will reject end-of-life nodes by default.
There are currently over 6,000 nodes on the Tor network . Some are running software from the 0.2.4.x series, released in December 2013.
The Tor Project has decided to deprecate End-of-Life nodes because they negatively impact the network, especially its stability and security . In addition, they prevent the release of new features.
“One example is the Denial of Service defenses, which we released in early 2018 as an immediate response to a Denial of Service attack that took place on the network. Unfortunately, this defense is only available for nodes running supported versions,” says the Tor Project.
So, the team behind Tor has already begun the process of removing End-of-Life nodes. It has been in contact with node operators since early September, asking them to make upgrades.
Currently, these nodes account for approximately 12% of total bandwidth.
“We expect a small impact on network size,” the Tor Project said.
Starting this week, the 9 directory authorities will begin rejecting End-Of-Life nodes.
The next stable version of Tor will be released sometime in November. That version will reject nodes by default. However, by then the Tor Project will have removed at least 800 nodes.
Node operators will be able to join the network after upgrading to one of the supported versions.
“Support from node operators is essential to keeping the network healthy. Operators must keep their nodes and machines . Nodes are the backbone of all Tor-based software, and each operator goes a long way in protecting the privacy and freedom of users around the world. A simple thank you is not enough,” the Tor Project said.
