Over the summer, the Tor Project released some extensions for Chrome and Firefox to help users in censored countries connect to the Tor network.
These extensions are intended for users who live in non-censored countries, that is, countries that do not block access to Tor.
Essentially, users can install these extensions for Chrome or Firefox to help those living in oppressive regimes. The extensions are part of Tor Snowflake.
The two extensions turn the browser into a proxy, allowing users in censored countries to connect through the extension (and the user's computer) to the Tor network.
Let's first look at how the Tor network works and how it combats Internet censorship
The Tor network is a set of servers that encrypt data traffic, offer anonymity , and keep users' locations hidden.
The Tor network has various types of servers: guard servers (entry points into the network), relays (control the flow of data within the network and enhance anonymity), and exit servers (reconnect to the "normal internet").
The IP addresses of the Tor guard servers are public and can be found on the website . From there, anyone can connect to the Tor network through a secure server.
Governments of various countries realized that they could block access to these servers and thus prevent access to the Tor network.
In response, the Tor Project created another type of server, which is also a guard server, but its IP address is not public. This type of server is called a Tor bridge.
Users living in repressive regimes have the ability to connect to the Tor network by requesting a Tor bridge server IP address through their Tor Browser.
However, governments have also managed to block Tor bridge servers.
Tor Snowflake is the Tor Project's latest effort to help users in censored countries.
Tor Snowflake helps create a constantly moving grid of proxies that no government could block .
When users (in non-censored countries) install the Chrome or Firefox extensions (Tor Snowflake), users in countries such as Iran or China can connect to regular Tor bridges through the users' browsers.
The more extensions are installed, the more proxies are available.
TOR SNOWFLAKE
Users in non-censored countries can easily install the Tor Snowflake extensions for Chrome or Firefox.
There is also the option to simply activate Snowflake (without installation). Simply connect to the site and leave the tab open.
As for users in censored countries, they must modify the network and click the option shown in the image below:
The downside of Tor Snowflake is that someone else is also using browser and exploiting your bandwidth.
The Tor Snowflake project had been underway since 2016.
Initially, users could only use it on Linux and later on Mac devices. Back then, there was only the site and no extensions.
In the summer, however, Tor developers released the two extensions, which are now also available for Windows systems.
